Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye has made 2,000m world record holder Francine Niyonsaba an “extraordinary” ambassador for the East African country of Burundi, reports BBC Africa.
Niyonsaba, who is regarded as a hero in Burundi, set the record of five minutes and 21.56 seconds at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb in September 2021; she thereby became the first athlete who has identified herself as having a difference of sex development (DSD) to officially break a world record.
She is among several athletes banned from competing between 400m and 1,500m for having naturally high levels of testosterone, barred by a controversial law that was introduced in 2018 by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
The law prohibits her and other women athletes from competing in races between 400m and a mile unless she undergoes treatment to reduce their naturally occurring testosterone levels.
"I have not had an easy life and I love challenges," Niyonsaba said of her switch to 2,000m. "I have faced it with a lot of determination and perseverance.”
“No-one was going to help me or wanted to coach me from a shorter to longer distance”, she continued. “No one believed in me but I believed in myself. I can say I came back to make sport a better place and keep inspiring others.”