Épiphanie Nyirabaramé (born 15 December 1981, in

Butare Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population. History The Belgian colonial rulers establish ...

) is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n athlete who specialized in

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. She represented Rwanda at two Olympic games (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

in Athens, and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

in Beijing). Nyirabaramé first competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, where she finished fifty-fourth and completed the run in the women's marathon, with a time of 2:52:50. At her second Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, on the other hand, she finished the women's marathon, just seven seconds behind Slovakia's Zuzana Šaríková, with her best possible time of 2:49:32. Nyirabaramé achieved her personal best at the

2009 IAAF World Championships 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, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, when she completed the run in the women's marathon, finishing in twenty-sixth place, with a time of 2:33:59. In addition to her personal best, Nyirabaramé also set her national record, which was previously held by Marcianna Mukamurenzi in the 1990s. Nyirabaramé was featured in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

, '' Spirit of the Marathon II'', featuring her performance in the 2012

Rome Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the ...

References

External links

* * * * * 1981 births Living people Rwandan female marathon runners Rwandan female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Rwanda Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Rwanda World Athletics Championships athletes for Rwanda People from Butare {{Rwanda-athletics-bio-stub