Rabah Mahhamed Yousif Bkheit ( Arabic:رباح يوسف)(born 11 December 1986IAAF biography
/ref>) is a Sudanese-born British

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 events ...

athlete, who initially competed for

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

before obtaining British citizenship.

Early life and British asylum

Yousif is the son of Mohamed Yousif Bakhit, who was Sudanese National Champion in the 100 and 200 metres in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There were also three other athletes within his close family, and he took to sports at a young age. At the age of 14, while training for the Championships with other Sudanese athletes in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, he applied for asylum, and was granted temporary leave to stay."Williams and Yousif complete switch in allegiance"
, ''Athletics Weekly'', 24 June 2013 However his asylum application was declined. In 2005, it was reported that Yusif was seeking British citizenship. In 2007, he was described as "one of Britain's brightest hopes for an Olympic

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

", but a judge turned down his asylum plea, and he faced deportation. By that point, he married a British woman in 2018 – and has two children, thus, granting him a spouse's visa to remain. In 2008, he was still living in the United Kingdom, with his wife in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

town of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

while competing internationally in the colours of Sudan having "got back in touch with the Sudanese authorities who guaranteed his safety through his solicitors" and working part-time in factories and restaurants. After being finally granted British citizenship in 2013 Yousif switched his alliance to Britain and became a full-time professional athlete.

Athletics career

In June 2002, he competed at the East Africa Youth Championships in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

and the Eastern African Junior Championships in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, winning a total of two gold medals in the high jump and one in the long jump. This qualified him for the World Junior Championships in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. Guided by his British coach, Carol Williams, he switched from the high jump to the 400 metres, and won the British national junior championships in June 2004. He finished third in the men's

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

event at the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

in 2005."Gardener battles to narrow win"
BBC, 13 February 2005 He set a new record (45.72 seconds) at the 400 metres event of the Bedford International Games in 2007. He won the event again in 2008, with a time of 47.05 seconds."Rabah's running triumph"
''Evening Gazette'', 2 June 2008 In April 2008, despite an injury during training, he competed at the 2008 African Championships, and won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay, setting a new national record of 3:04.00 with his teammates. He did not qualify for the Olympic Games. The

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

were his first major world competition; he reached the semi-finals, with the best result of any African athlete (45.63). That same year, he won gold at the Arab Championships in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, with a new personal best of 45.15. He won gold again at the All Africa Games and the Arab Championships in 2011. In March 2012 he ran in the

at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul but didn't qualify for the final. Later his results from the championships were disqualified for doping, as he had tested positive for

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

in a competition on 23 February. He received a 2-month backdated suspension for the anti-doping rule violation. He qualified to join the Sudanese delegation at the

2012 Summer 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 ...

, and took part in the men's 400 metres. He reached the semi-finals, where he set a new personal best in 45.13. In May 2013, he announced that he now had been granted a British passport, and aimed henceforth to represent Great Britain in future athletics events. His transfer of allegiance, allowing him to represent his new country, was completed by the following month. He represented GB in the 2014 European Athletics Championships, running the qualifying round of the 400m relay, helping his adopted country into the final with the fastest time. However, Yousif was not selected to run in the final, where GB won Gold. In the 2015 World Championships Yousif ran a new personal best of 44.54 in the semi final of the 400m to qualify for the final of the event. Yousif finished sixth in the final in 44.68 in the first ever race to comprise three men going under 44 seconds. In May 2016, Yousif earned a European Athletics Championship bronze medal as part of the men's 400m relay team Yousif was selected to double up for the 2016 Olympics in both the 400m and 400m relay. However, having travelled to Rio, he was unable to take part in either event due to injury.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yousif, Rabah 1986 births Living people People from Omdurman Sudanese male sprinters British male sprinters English male sprinters Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes of Sudan Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games African Games gold medalists for Sudan African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games European Championships (multi-sport event) silver medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Sudan World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners Doping cases in athletics Sudanese sportspeople in doping cases British sportspeople in doping cases Sudanese emigrants to the United Kingdom