Yonas Kinde

Yonas Kinde (born 7 May 1980) is a track and field athlete originally from Ethiopia, but now living and training in Luxembourg, who was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is coached by Yves Göldi. Yonas ran his fastest marathon with a time of 2 hours 17 minutes.

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Yonas, and not as Kinde.
Yonas Kinde
Personal information
Born (1980-05-07) May 7, 1980
Ethiopia
Sport
CountryRefugee Olympic Team

Personal life

Yonas, originally from Ethiopia, left his country due to political problems. He has been living in Luxembourg since 2012 and under international protection in Luxembourg since 2013.[1] Yonas takes French lessons and works as a taxi driver.[2][3][4]

Athletics career

Yonas began running in Ethiopia as a teenager mainly in cross-country, 10,000m and half marathons, eventually moving up to the full marathon. During his relatively short running career in Europe, coached by Yves Göldi, he won several titles in Luxembourg, France and Germany.[5] In Frankfurt, Germany he ran his personal best in 2015 in 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Due to his refugee status, Yonas could not compete at international competitions, despite being fast enough to have qualified. On 3 July 2016, the IOC announced that Yonas would be part of a team of ten athletes selected to compete as a Refugee Olympic Athletes team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[6] He competed in the men's marathon.[7]

Competitions
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing Refugee Athletes
2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 90th Marathon 2:24:08

Personal bests
  • 1500 m – 3:56.56 in Kirchberg (LUX) on 18.02.2014
  • 3000 m – 8:38.10 in Kirchberg (LUX) on 30.01.2016
  • 5000 m – 14:32.69 in Schifflange (LUX) on 04.08.2013
  • 8 km Road – 23:05 in Trier (GER) on 31.12.2013
  • 10 km Road – 30:01 in Langsur (GER) on 09.11.2013
  • Half marathon – 1:03:22 in Remich (LUX) on 28.09.2014
  • Marathon – 2:17:31 in Frankfurt (GER) on 25.10.2015

References
  1. tetrik.ch. "Ethiopian refugee, Yonas Kinde, selected for Refugee Olympic Team for Olympic Games Rio 2016 - IOC News Room".
  2. Davis, Rebecca (2016-08-01). "From Peace Run to Rio: The Story of Refugee Olympic Team". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  3. Armstrong, Jeremy (2016-08-02). "10 inspirational stories of the first Refugee Olympic team at Rio 2016". Mirror. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  4. Blair, Olivia (2016-08-09). "The inspirational stories behind the Olympic refugee team". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. "ARRS - Runner: Yonas Kinde".
  6. "Refugee Olympic Team to Shine Spotlight On Worldwide Refugee Crisis". International Olympic Committee. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. "Refugee Olympic Team" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
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