Rwanda—Welcome to London 2012
The sport is not a name associated with Rwanda, but in July 1996, the then war-torn nation (until the 1970s, known as the “Switzerland of Africa” for its extraordinary landscapes with lakes, rivers and high mountains ) made international headlines when he was represented by four athletes at the Atlanta Centennial Games. It was a memorable moment when the Rwandan national contingent entered the Stadium, while behind them was a small country devastated by genocidal wars, extermination camps, corruption, rape, poverty and the slaughter of gorillas (the country’s national symbol). During the civil conflict of 1990-1996, more than a million people were massacred.
Unlike its twin Burundi (which won a stunning track and field gold medal at Atlanta ’96), the Rwandan team did not win medals in Georgia, but captured the hearts of people around the world through sport, becoming heroes as happened when the delegation from Bosnia Herzegovina arrived in Barcelona four years earlier. In fact, the athletes of the country gave a lesson in courage, determination and Olympic spirit, after overcoming obstacles and setbacks to go to America. Without a doubt, the runner Mathias Ntawulikura was one of them. With his eighth place finish in the men’s 10,000m (track and field), long-distance runner Ntawulikura had become the country’s most successful athlete on the Olympic stage (no other Rwandan athlete had reached the final), followed by Marcianne Mukamurenzi , who ranked 38th in the Seoul Women’s Marathon in 1988.
In the Kingdom of the Gorillas!
The country traditionally participates with distance runners and freestyle swimmers in the multi-sport event. Meanwhile, he has yet to compete in team sports, such as soccer or basketball, at the Olympic Championships.
The French-speaking nation of Rwanda, bordering Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania and Uganda, made its international debut at the event exactly in 1984 when the national delegation competed at the Games of the 23rd Olympiad in Los Angeles (CA). In the United States, the landlocked nation of Rwanda — geographically the size of Maryland/Wales — was represented by one of the smallest athletic contingents in the Third World. It was a time when the African republic, independent since the early 1960s after being an absolutist monarchy for centuries, was ruled by Juvenal Habyarimana, a military warlord who came to power during a coup in the early 1960s. from 1970.
During the 1970s and 1980s, in many ways, the mountainous country, which has some of the most delicious coffee in the world, was a peaceful place and a friendly land, unlike Uganda, Mozambique, and Rhodesia (today’s Zimbabwe) at that time. moment. – despite being one of the poorest republics in East Africa.
In other aspects, this land began to be known worldwide for the mountain gorillas thanks to the works and articles of Dian Fossey, which were published in the prestigious National Geographic magazine. However, who could have imagined that Rwanda would be a war-torn country for decades to come.
Rwanda at the 1988 Seoul Olympics
His second appearance was at the 1988 Korea Olympiad, a year after attending the 1987 African Games. The Rwandan Olympic Committee sent a six-person team to Seoul to compete in athletics. On South Korean soil, Miss Mukamurenzi became one of the most successful national athletes in the Summer Olympics by finishing 38th in the Second Women’s Olympic Marathon in October 1988. Historically, she was one of the two most respected runners in the Great Lakes region of Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to winning the 10,000 at the Regional Championships, he set two records in Rwanda that year. A year ago, she was runner-up to Leah Malot of Kenya in the women’s 10,000m at the 1987 Continental Games with a time of 33:58.55 and finished as one of the top 27 marathon runners at the World Tournament in Italy. In the early 1990s, she had her best performance when she placed in the top ten at the World Cup. Long-distance runner Mukamurenzi, for her part, trained in the highlands of Rwanda, an ideal region for runners and marathoners.
By 1992, four years later, in the Spanish city of Barcelona, there were representatives in two sports: cycling and athletics, both traditional sports on Rwandan soil. With a total of 10 athletes, men and women, the 1992 national team is the largest delegation in the country’s Olympic history.
At the quadrennial Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) in 2000, there were national participants in athletics and swimming. There, the country’s sports idol, Ntawulikura, made his fourth consecutive participation, leaving an important legacy for the Rwandan Olympic system. At the upcoming Summer Games, the nation’s sports officials sent runners and swimmers to Athens, Greece. In 2008, once again, the Rwandan athletic team competed in aquatics and athletics and was one of the smallest delegations in the world at the multi-sport event in mainland China.
For July 2012, the Rwandan Olympic Committee plans to send a small delegation of four/five athletes to the UK. So far Jean Pierre Mvuyekure, a marathon runner, and Adrien Niyonshuti, a cyclist, have qualified for the London 2012 Games. Cycling in Rwanda has not competed at the Games since 1992. Meanwhile, the landlocked nation has he could compete in sports such as boxing, judo, and swimming. Currently, Mr. Fred Yannick Sekamana is by far the most outstanding athlete in the French-speaking republic. Like most African athletes, this judoka lives and trains in France.
