230px Dorcus Inzikuru (born 2 February 1982 in

Vurra Vurra is a town in Uganda. Location The town is in the northwestern corner of Uganda, close to the international border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Vurra is in Arua District of the West Nile sub-region. It is approximately , ...

Arua District Arua District is a district in the Northern Region of Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it shares its name with its administrative center of Arua. The name Arua is said to be derived from the Lugbara name for prison (Arujo) and prisoner ...

) is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, competing in the steeplechase. She won the inaugural world title in women's 3000 m steeplechase, as well as the first Commonwealth title in the event. Her coach is Renato Canova. Sometimes her name is spelt "Docus". It was misspelled in her passport, and the mistake was perpetuated when she entered international races.

Career

Inzikuru won the bronze medal in the 5000 metres at the

2003 Afro-Asian Games The 2003 Afro-Asian Games, officially known as the First Afro-Asian Games or I Afro-Asian Games and unofficially known as the Inaugural Afro-Asian Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Hyderabad, India, from 24 October (exc ...

, finishing behind

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including O ...

, and

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...

. She also won at cross country, beating all-comers at the Eurocross meeting that year.

2005 World Championships

In 2005, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, Inzikuru ended Uganda's 33-year wait for an athletics world title, winning the inaugural women's 3000 m steeplechase event, in a time of 9:18.24 (at the time, the sixth best performance ever). Inzikuru only became aware of the $60,000 prize after winning the final and vowed to use her money to build a house and to help young athletes. She had competed in the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships that year, but she finished in 18th place. In 2006, she won the Oeiras International Cross Country meeting, but she pulled out of that season's World Cross Country Championships.

2009 return

After taking two years out from athletics, due to giving birth to her first child (Emmanuelle Munguci) and receiving treatment for sinus infections and various allergies, Inzikuru returned to competition. She won an

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

race in Namboole on 6 June 2009, with a time of 2:12.0, later saying: "This is my first race after over two years. I am just coming back and am proud of my time. It builds my confidence". She competed sparingly over the following years and could not recapture her steeplechase form, recording season's best of 9:53.02 and 9:54.50 minutes in 2010 and 2011. Inzikuru returned to the top level of the sport in 2012, running a time of 9:30.95 minutes for the steeplechase and qualifying for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The event had moved on since her championship win, however, and she was not fast enough to reach the final. She ran at the major Weltklasse and

Internationales Stadionfest The Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) is an annual track and field athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. It was first held in July 1921 at the Deutsches Stadion, which was replaced from 1937 by the Stadium of the 1936 Ol ...

meetings in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after the Olympic Games, but barely managed to reach the top ten. In 2013, she attempted to reinvigorate her career with a switch to the marathon, but on her debut at the Brighton Marathon she finished with a time of 2:42:38 hours, missing her target of the Ugandan record.

Personal life

Inzikuru grew up in Vurra, in

, the daughter of an Anglican priest. Her parents were both talented athletes, but did not compete internationally. She was the third of eight children, but lost her two older brothers at the ages of eight and fourteen, to

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. Inzikurru was married to an accountant, Martin Bosco Acidri, a former sprinter, and together they had a daughter, ''Emmanuela Munguci''. They separated in February 2012. He died in October 2013. Inzikuru often lives and trains in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and competes for the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

club Camelot. She often trains with men's world record holder,

Saif Saaeed Shaheen Saif Saaeed Shaheen ( ar, سيف سعيد شاهين), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He currently holds the world record for 3000 metre stee ...

, as the two share coach Renato Canova.

Achievements

3000 m Steeplechase

*2005 World Championships, Gold (9:18.24) *2005 World Athletics Final, Gold *2006 Commonwealth Games, Gold (9:19.51

3000 m

*1999 World Youth Championships, 8th

5000 m

*1999 African Games, 6th *2000 World Junior Championships, Gold *2002 Commonwealth Games, 4th *2002 African Games, Silver *2003 Afro-Asian Games, Bronze

Cross Country

*2000 World Junior Championships, 10th *2004 World Championships (short course), 38th *2005 World Championships (short course), 18th *2007 World Championships, DNF

Personal bests

*800 m, 2:02.00 *One Mile, 4:36.05 *3000 m, 8:46.29 *5000 m, 15:05.30 *2000 m Steeplechase, 6:04.46 *3000 m Steeplechase, 9:15.04

References

External links

*
2006 Commonwealth Games
"Ugandan's Golden Games Debut"
BBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inzikuru, Dorcus 1982 births Living people Ugandan female middle-distance runners Ugandan female long-distance runners Ugandan female marathon runners Ugandan female steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Olympic athletes of Uganda Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Uganda World Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics African Games silver medalists for Uganda African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games World Athletics Championships winners People from Arua District