230px Dorcus Inzikuru (born 2 February 1982 in Vurra, Arua District) is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, competing in the steeplechase. She won the inaugural world title in women's 3000 m steeplechase, as well as the first

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

title in the event. Her coach is Renato Canova. Sometimes her name is spelt "Docus". It was misspelled in her

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, and the mistake was perpetuated when she entered international races.

Career

Inzikuru won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, finishing behind Meseret Defar, and Tirunesh Dibaba. She also won at cross country, beating all-comers at the

Eurocross Eurocross is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Diekirch, Luxembourg in February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. I ...

meeting that year.

2005 World Championships

In 2005, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, in

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, Inzikuru ended Uganda's 33-year wait for an athletics world title, winning the inaugural women's 3000 m steeplechase event, in a time of 9:18.24 (at the time, the sixth best performance ever). Inzikuru only became aware of the $60,000 prize after winning the final and vowed to use her money to build a house and to help young athletes. She had competed in the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

that year, but she finished in 18th place. In 2006, she won the Oeiras International Cross Country meeting, but she pulled out of that season's World Cross Country Championships.

2009 return

After taking two years out from athletics, due to giving birth to her first child (Emmanuelle Munguci) and receiving treatment for sinus infections and various allergies, Inzikuru returned to competition. She won an

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

race in Namboole on 6 June 2009, with a time of 2:12.0, later saying: "This is my first race after over two years. I am just coming back and am proud of my time. It builds my confidence". She competed sparingly over the following years and could not recapture her steeplechase form, recording season's best of 9:53.02 and 9:54.50 minutes in 2010 and 2011. Inzikuru returned to the top level of the sport in 2012, running a time of 9:30.95 minutes for the steeplechase and qualifying for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The event had moved on since her championship win, however, and she was not fast enough to reach the final. She ran at the major Weltklasse and Internationales Stadionfest meetings in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

after the Olympic Games, but barely managed to reach the top ten. In 2013, she attempted to reinvigorate her career with a switch to the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

, but on her debut at the Brighton Marathon she finished with a time of 2:42:38 hours, missing her target of the Ugandan record.

Personal life

Inzikuru grew up in Vurra, in Arua District, the daughter of an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest. Her parents were both talented athletes, but did not compete internationally. She was the third of eight children, but lost her two older brothers at the ages of eight and fourteen, to

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

and

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. Inzikuru was married to an accountant, Martin Bosco Acidri, a former sprinter, and together they had a daughter, ''Emmanuela Munguci''. They separated in February 2012. He died in October 2013. Inzikuru often lives and trains in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and competes for the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

club Camelot. She often trains with men's world record holder, Saif Saaeed Shaheen, as the two share coach Renato Canova.

Achievements

3000 m Steeplechase

*2005 World Championships, Gold (9:18.24) *2005 World Athletics Final, Gold *2006 Commonwealth Games, Gold (9:19.51)

3000 m

*1999 World Youth Championships, 8th

5000 m

*1999 African Games, 6th *2000 World Junior Championships, Gold *2002 Commonwealth Games, 4th *2002 African Games, Silver *2003 Afro-Asian Games, Bronze

Cross Country

*2000 World Junior Championships, 10th *2004 World Championships (short course), 38th *2005 World Championships (short course), 18th *2007 World Championships, DNF

Personal bests

*800 m, 2:02.00 *One Mile, 4:36.05 *3000 m, 8:46.29 *5000 m, 15:05.30 *2000 m Steeplechase, 6:04.46 *3000 m Steeplechase, 9:15.04

References

External links

*
2006 Commonwealth Games
"Ugandan's Golden Games Debut"
BBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inzikuru, Dorcus 1982 births Living people Ugandan female middle-distance runners Ugandan female long-distance runners Ugandan female marathon runners Ugandan female steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Olympic athletes for Uganda Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Uganda World Athletics Championships medalists African Games silver medalists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games World Athletics Championships winners People from Arua District Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Northern Region, Uganda Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)