1. Diane Nukuri competed for Burundi as a fifteen-year-old in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney in the 5,000m and in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the marathon.
24 Facts About Diane Nukuri
1. 2.
Diane Nukuri was the Burundian flag bearer at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2012.
3.
Diane Nukuri ran in the junior IAAF World Cross Country Championships twice, placing 18th in 2000 and 27th the following year.
4.
Diane Nukuri won the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 Francophone Games in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
5.
At the time, Diane Nukuri had already lost her father to the conflict, and she knew she would have no running career had she stayed in Burundi.
6.
Diane Nukuri was granted asylum, and lived with relatives in Pickering, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.
7.
Diane Nukuri continued to run while living in Canada and began drawing interest from cross country and distance track coaches from American universities, in particular the University of Iowa.
8.
However, Diane Nukuri spoke very little English, so she attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.
9.
At Butler, Diane Nukuri trained under Kirk Hunter while learning English, taking classes, and amassing 9 NJCAA national championships and 17 NJCAA All-American honors.
10.
Diane Nukuri was named an All-American three times and won the Wilma Rudolph student-athlete award.
11.
Diane Nukuri left Iowa with school records in ten events.
12.
Diane Nukuri graduated from Iowa with a bachelor's degree in communications in the fall of 2008.
13.
Diane Nukuri competed in her first professional race at the 2008 Shelter Island 10K.
14.
Diane Nukuri first competed in the Olympics at the age of 15, running the 5,000 meters at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
15.
Diane Nukuri finished 14th in her heat but did not advance to the finals.
16.
Diane Nukuri returned to the Olympics twelve years later, competing in the women's marathon.
17.
Diane Nukuri finished in 31st place, setting another Burundian National Record in 2:30:13,.
18.
Diane Nukuri was the flag-bearer for Burundi, leading the country's six athletes at the opening ceremony.
19.
Diane Nukuri bettered her national record at the NYC Half Marathon in March 2013, narrowly finishing second to Caroline Rotich in a time of 1:09:12 hours.
20.
Diane Nukuri is currently the Burundian record-holder in the 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, half marathon, and the marathon.
21.
Diane Nukuri's story has been documented in a number of articles, including Running Times in October 2012.
22.
Diane Nukuri represented Burundi at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016, running the 10,000 meters.
23.
Diane Nukuri holds dual citizenship from both Burundi and the United States.
24.
Diane Nukuri became eligible to compete internationally for the United States in February 2020.