Yonas Kinde

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yonas Kinde
Personal information
NationalityLuxembourgian
BornEthiopia
Height73
Weight60
Sport
Sportmarathon,half marathon,10km
ClubCiltic Diekrich
Achievements and titles
Personal best2:17:12

Yonas Kinde (born 7 May 1980) is a track and field athlete originally from Ethiopia, but now living and training in Luxembourg, who was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is coached by Yves Göldi. Yonas ran his fastest marathon with a time of 2 hours 17 minutes.

Personal life[edit]

Yonas, originally from Ethiopia. He has been living in Luxembourg since 2012 and he obtained luxembourgish nationality since 2020.[1] Yonas speaks French, English, Luxembourgish and Amharic, and works as Massage therapist.[2][3][4]

Athletics career[edit]

Yonas began running in Ethiopia as a teenager mainly in cross-country, 10,000m and half marathons, eventually moving up to the full marathon. During his relatively short running career in Europe, coached by Yves Göldi, he won several titles in Luxembourg, France and Germany.[5] In Frankfurt, Germany he ran his personal best in 2015 in 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Due to his refugee status, Yonas could not compete at international competitions, despite being fast enough to have qualified.[citation needed] On 3 July 2016, the IOC announced that Yonas would be part of a team of ten athletes selected to compete as a Refugee Olympic Athletes team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[6] He competed in the men's marathon.[7]

Competitions[edit]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing Refugee Athletes
2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 90th Marathon 2:24:08

Personal bests[edit]

  • 1500 m – 3:56.56 in Kirchberg (LUX) on 18.02.2014
  • 3000 m – 8:38.10 in Kirchberg (LUX) on 30.01.2016
  • 5000 m – 14:32.69 in Schifflange (LUX) on 04.08.2013
  • 8 km Road – 23:05 in Trier (GER) on 31.12.2013
  • 10 km Road – 30:01 in Langsur (GER) on 09.11.2013
  • Half marathon – 1:03:22 in Remich (LUX) on 28.09.2014
  • Marathon – 2:17:31 in Frankfurt (GER) on 25.10.2015
  • marathon-2:17:12 in Frankfurt (GER) on 31.10.2022

Half marathon 1:04:33 Ing Route du Vin (LUX) 25.09.2022

  1. ^ tetrik.ch. "Ethiopian,Yonas Kinde, selected for Refugee Olympic Team for Olympic Games Rio 2016 - IOC News Room".
  2. ^ Davis, Rebecca (2016-08-01). "From Peace Run to Rio: The Story of Refugee Olympic Team". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  3. ^ Armstrong, Jeremy (2016-08-02). "10 inspirational stories of the first Refugee Olympic team at Rio 2016". Mirror. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  4. ^ Blair, Olivia (2016-08-09). "The inspirational stories behind the Olympic refugee team". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. ^ "ARRS - Runner: Yonas Kinde".
  6. ^ "Refugee Olympic Team to Shine Spotlight On Worldwide Refugee Crisis". International Olympic Committee. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Refugee Olympic Team" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 June 2016.

External links[edit]