Venuste Niyongabo

Vénuste Niyongabo (born December 9, 1973 in Vugizo , Makamba ) is a former middle and long-distance runner from Burundi who became Olympic champion in the 5000 meter run in 1996 .

biography

Niyongabo, who belongs to the Tutsi tribe , first attracted attention in 1992 when he won silver over 1500 meters at the Junior World Championships . At the World Athletics Championships in 1993 in Stuttgart, he reached the semi-finals over this distance. Niyongabo became one of the best 1,500-meter runners of his time, winning several major races in 1994 and 1995. At the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in 1995 , he won the bronze medal behind Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj .

Before the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Niyongabo was considered one of the favorites over 1500 meters, but he left his starting position to his compatriot and coach Dieudonné Kwizéra and started over 5000 meters himself, although he had only raced this distance twice before. Kwizera had not previously been able to take part in the Olympic Games because Burundi did not have a National Olympic Committee at the time. Both benefited from this decision: Kwizera was finally allowed to participate, and Niyongabo completely surprisingly won the 5000 meter race after leaving all competitors behind on the last lap.

In the following years, Niyongabo had to heal numerous injuries and could only occasionally reach his previous level of performance. At the 1999 World Championships in Seville over 1500 meters and at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney over 5000 meters, he was eliminated in the preliminary stages.

Personal bests

• 1000 m : 2: 15.63 min, July 18, 1995, Salamanca
  • Hall: 2: 15.62 min, February 27, 1995, Stockholm
• 1500 m: 3: 29.18 min, August 22, 1997, Brussels
  • Hall: 3: 33.17 min, February 22, 1998, Liévin
• Mile : 3: 46.70 min, August 26, 1997, Berlin
• 2000 m : 4: 48.69 min, July 12, 1995, Nice
• 3000 m : 7: 34.03 min, August 16, 1996, Cologne
  • Hall: 7: 37.82 min, February 25, 1995, Birmingham
• 5000 m: 13: 03.29 min, June 3, 1996, Saint-Denis

Web links

• Vénuste niyongabo in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Vénuste Niyongabo in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )