The unlikely story of Guelph runner Yves Sikubwabo
When you get the opportunity to sit down with a person with an exceptional story – be it an athlete, scholar, politician or rock star – you often begin to wonder what your line of questioning is going to be. Do you default and ask about their improbable road to success? Do you ask them about their doubts, their dreams, and their future?
I experienced this recently when sitting down with Guelph cross country and track phenom, Yves Sikubwabo, who at the age of 20, has become one of the most decorated runners in the country.
Sikubwabo was born in 1993 in Rwanda, one year before the genocide. He has little to no recollection of his birth parents. His mother was Hutu, his father Tutsi – and as anarchy blanketed Rwanda, both of Yves parents were considered enemies of the uprising and were killed.
Yves was raised by his aunt, and in his turbulent upbringing, had no choice but to run 11 kilometers to school, both there and back. This was until the age of 17 when he attended the World Junior Track meet in Canada; a moment that would change his life forever.
In a long, incredibly improbable series of events, Sikubwabo ended up living in Ottawa with a family who adopted him after he applied for refugee status on word that the killers who murdered his family had been released from prison.
Sikubwabo entered his first half marathon, a race he had never run previously, and won by a considerable margin. Upon crossing the finish line, Mike Woods, Canadian junior mile and 3000 metre record-holder, asked Sikubwabo is he’d like to join his running club
Sikubwabo’s track life as a Canadian flourished from then on. Sikubwabo’s mom encouraged him to go to Guelph to check out the cross country and track and field programs the Gryphons offered.
“I went to visit many schools, and some schools in the U.S. too, because that’s where lots of Canadian track athletes go,” said Sikubwabo. Ultimately, for Sikubwabo, mom knows best: “My mom told me she thought it was a good idea I go there [Guelph]. Plus the coach already had five Olympic athletes.”
Now in his third year at Guelph, there are no regrets on behalf of the rising Canadian running star, stating “I really love Guelph because it has nice people. People here are very friendly and they are very social. They are willing to do anything they can to help you achieve your goals.”
Sikubwabo acknowledges that his successes cannot be contributed to just one person. As he lists off his mentors and role models, he pays special notice to his coach, his friends and family as all having a big part in his well-doing.
“I have to ask,” I said as I inched closer to the modest demeanor of Sikubwabo, “Do you still go out and party? Hang out with friends of Friday nights? Are you at all normal?”
Sikubwabo laughed, his smile electric. He bumped his fist twice off the table and nodded his head, “I like that question!” It was one of the only moments Sikubwabo was alive with emotion, which made me selfishly happy that I was able to elicit a deep emotion from him.
There was a pause in his speech, his brain churning, trying to find the right words. “At this point, it is not that hard as it was a year or two years ago. At that point I was still trying to figure everything out, learn a new culture…Yeah, I party, I go out, I feel like the other kids, [running] is not a special thing I have,” Sikubwabo replied, as his modest persona immediately assumed its leading role.
Despite his admission to partaking in some of university’s most notoriously stereotypical late-night activities, he was insistent that track and school are where his priorities lay. “If I party, it is only once or twice a year. It is good to have fun, but you can’t overdo it because there is so much to get done. My background, where I come from, has helped me to realize that,” said Sikubwabo.
His face was certainly that of a twenty-something trying to find their place in the world, but the words, the story, and the advice that emanated from the otherwise youthful character, were chalked full of wisdom and experience.
Sikubwabo’s dream is to race for Canada – and he made that quite evident as a conversation regarding the Olympics ended the interview – but the junior is humble and realistic with his goals.
Though I kept inching my recorder closer and closer to the soft-spoken voice of Sikubwabo, trying to squeeze as many questions into our somewhat rigid timeframe, I couldn’t help but think that all anyone would want to do when speaking to this young, Canadian, Olympic hopeful, was to sit back and let the stories come to you.