Thierry Ndikumwenayo, the new star of Spanish athletics: from running in the mud of Burundi to conquering Silesia

Irruption of Thierry Ndikumwenayo It was explosive. The runner made his debut yesterday with Spain in international competition. He did it in European by country Silesia (Poland) and through the front door. Prime Minister and victory at 5000 meters in a very tactical race. Everyone would say that the long-distance runner has only been doing it for ten years.

Ndikumwenayo was born in one of the poorest countries in the world, Burundi. In this complicated context, the athlete grew up without television and not knowing about the existence of athletics. «I never saw it or knew people practiced it. I started running without knowing that there were competitions, I did it just to play,” he admitted in several interviews.

Like most children, the first sport that conquered him was football. He played with other boys at school until he discovered his true passion. One day, they organized a 200-meter race at school. Ndikumwenayo did not win, but a great game opened the door for him. The winner approached him and suggested repeating the race. This time on the field of his club. Thierry wanted revenge. From that moment he started running for fun. He started playing athletics at the age of 16, much later than usual. There are no tartan tracks in Burundi, but dirt tracks. A rough start.

However, his technique, which seemed almost innate, attracted attention and in 2014 the federation invited him to participate in Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing (China). He was not impressed by this atmosphere of professionalism and climbed the podium as second in the 3000 meters event.

That’s where he surprised Lorenzo Solbes, who invited him to train in Spain. The Burundi Federation refused it because the corridor is still too small. But eventually he relented and in 2015, Ndikumwenayo traveled to the country. He arrived on a three-month visa and made the most of his stay with the CET Plan2Win de Solbes project — a kind of non-governmental organization that offers opportunities to runners from different African countries. But he had to return home because of visa problems. “I was in Burundi for almost 10 months waiting for another… I came back in the summer of 2016,” he explained.

In 2019, the long-distance runner participated in the World Cross Country Championship with Burundi, where he won ninth place, and just before the world stopped due to the pandemic, he competed at the World Cup in Doha in the 10,000 meters category (he had to withdraw). Covid was a heavy blow for Ndikumwenayo. Solbes got an offer to train in Qatar and was left alone in Alicante. He felt isolated and sought refuge in Pepe OrtúNot, club Athletics Castellón beachwho, after learning about his situation, invited him to the team.

From free to stars

For several seasons, Thierry made a living as a rabbit in events such as the marathon, until last year he made the leap to the higher levels. A hole was made in the Diamond League and at the test in Rome he fell under 13 minutes at 5000 meters. He was second in Paris, fifth in Stockholm, and triumphant in Monaco. He finished 2022 as the world leader in the 3000 meters after running in 7.25.93 in the Principality. From a rabbit to a star.

Innkeeper, 26 years old, he received Spanish citizenship with a letter of naturalization from the Government last November. Ndikumwenayo made the request three years ago, and it seemed to have been forgotten. His great sports successes prompted the decision. Only two months later, in January of this year, due to the delay of the document, he could not fight for the national cross-country crown in Ortuella (Vizcaya), despite winning the race (the title went to Adel Mechaal).

In Silesia, in the European country competition, Ndikumwenayo dominated the race and crossed the finish line in 13.25.48 ahead of Andreas Almgren and Yemaneberhan Crippa, bronze medalists at the last European outdoor race in Munich 2022.