Brurundi's Niyonsaba breaks world 2,000 meters record

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba on Tuesday won in the women's 2,000 meters in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event with a record-breaking performance of 5:21.56.

Ethiopian athletes Freweyni Gebreezibeher and Dawit Seyaum took second and third respectively with times of 5:25.86 and 5:32.40 at Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

Niyonsaba, 28, took more than two seconds off the previous record set by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia of 5:23.75, which was set indoors in Sabadell, Spain in 2017.

Niyonsaba, who also last week won the Wanda Diamond League title in 5,000 meters in Zurich, Switzerland, classifies as a DSD athlete – an athlete with differences of sexual development.

In 2019 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) began enforcing regulations for athletes with XY disorders of sex development (DSD), testosterone levels above 5 nmol/L, and androgen sensitivity.

Regulations forced Niyonsaba, who won the 2016 Olympic silver medal in the 800 meters, to switch to either sprinting or longer-distance events after 2019.

Her 2,000-meters win in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold made Niyonsaba the first athlete with DSD to break a world record.