Francine Niyonsaba (born May 5, 1993) is a Burundian runner, who specialized in the

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 ...

and shifted to longer distances in 2019. She was the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist in the women's

. Her silver medal was the first Olympic medal for Burundi since 1996. Niyonsaba won a silver in the event at the 2017 World Championships. She is a two-time 800m world indoor champion, having won 800m in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. After her move to longer distances, Niyonsaba finished fifth over the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She holds the world record in the

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World Ath ...

, and seven Burundian records. In 2019, World Athletics announced that Niyonsaba would not be allowed to compete under the female classification in events between 400 metres and one mile due to its regulations on XY DSD athletes with naturally high

testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...

levels.

Career

Francine Niyonsaba quickly rose to prominence in 2012 while still a teenager. The first time she set the

record was in late June 2012 while narrowly winning the 2012 African Championships in Athletics in 1:59.11 in what was only her third competitive race. At that, she improved upon her own previous national record of 2:02.13, set in the qualifying round. In the opening round race, the inexperienced runner had opened up a 30 meters lead the pack. Three weeks later, on July 20, 2012, she improved the record again to 1:58.68 while finishing second at the 2012 Diamond League meeting at Herculis. During 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 ...

, Niyonsaba reduced her own 800m record to 1:58.67 on August 9, 2012, in the semi-final round. It was a 0.01 seconds improvement on her previous record. Two days later, she finished seventh (subsequently upgraded to fifth as a result of the doping disqualifications of Russian athletes Elena Arzhakova and Mariya Savinova) in the final. Less than a month later, she took the record down to 1:56.59. In 2016, Niyonsaba won the

800 meters 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 the ...

at the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...

in 2:00.01. She concluded her competition with her first Olympic medal, a silver in the women's 800m in a time of 1:56.49, behind Caster Semenya of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Niyonsaba finished second in 800 meters seven race series of 2016 Diamond League. She improved her personal best to 1:56.24 at 2016 Herculis meet. In 2017, Niyonsaba earned a new personal best and national record at the Monaco Diamond League after winning the 800m there in a time of 1:55.47 on July 21. With this time, she was the World No. 1. heading into the 2017 World Championships in London. At the World Championships in London, she won a silver in the women's 800m in a time of 1:55.92. She led throughout the majority of the race, but Caster Semenya used her phenomenal final kick to pass the Burundian on the home stretch once again and win gold.

World Athletics ruling

In 2019, it was revealed that Niyonsaba was born with the 46,XY karyotype and an

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

condition after her qualification for IAAF women's competition was affected by the association's new regulations for athletes with XY differences of sexual development, testosterone levels above 5 nmol/L, and androgen sensitivity. Due to her stress fracture, Niyonsaba will have to miss the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.

Achievements

International competitions

Circuit wins and titles

* Diamond League champion 5000 m:

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(1 – 800 m): Brussels () **

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

(3 – 800 m): Shanghai (), Eugene (WL ), Paris **

(2 – 800 m): Birmingham (MR), Lausanne **

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(2 – 800 m): Stockholm, Lausanne () **

(2 – 800 m): Lausanne, Rabat **

Eugene (two miles, MR), Paris (3000 m, WL MR NR), Brussels (5000 m, WL NR), Zürich (5000 m) **

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

(2): Doha (3000 m, WL), Eugene (two miles, WL MR)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niyonsaba, Francine 1993 births Living people People from Ruyigi Province Burundian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Burundi Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Burundi Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Burundi World Athletics Championships medalists Intersex women Intersex sportspeople World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Sex verification in sports Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Diamond League winners