Over the years many sports personalities have suffered adversities to earn global recognition. Some of them escaped war to make it to the top.
Mention can be made of Mo Farah whose father died during the Somali war and was illegally smuggled to the United Kingdom among others.
The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda claimed a million lives of Tutsi victims among whom were sports personalities.
The likes of iconic volleyball star Dominique Ngoga Sebalinda, Emmanuel Ntarugera, a.k.a Gisembe, one of the best Basketball players Rwanda has ever produced, are among top athletes that the sport fraternity is still mourning since they were killed during the genocide.
Some were lucky to survive, put the past behind them, and went on to reach their highest potential of their careers in their respective sports disciplines.
Times Sport takes a look at some of the top athletes who survived the genocide and enjoyed successful careers over the past three decades.
Olivier Karekezi (Football)
Perhaps the most iconic and well-known Rwandan footballer ever. Olivier Karekezi formed an impregnable partnership with iconic striker Jimmy Gatete at both club and country levels as the duo tormented defenders across the length and breadth of Africa.
Perhaps, Karekezi was destined to live and put Rwandan football on the map.
He survived the killings at the Parish in Gikondo and he stayed with a man who had rescued him. He grew in fear as local militia (Interahamwe) told them they would be killed on May 5, 1994.
"That man who rescued me never knew my brother. He had just come from Burundi for vacation. They killed him accusing him of being part of the RPA and claimed he had been attending military courses in Burundi," he told Times Sport in a past interview.
"Football was crucial in helping me deal with those emotional scars and it helped make me busy and forget bad moments that I witnessed during the genocide. It was not easy at the beginning but thanks to football, I managed to overcome it."
Karekezi grew to become a superstar and he played a key role in Rwanda's only AFCON qualification in 2004.
In a career spanning 13 years, Karekezi hanged his boots from international football in 2013 with 25 goals in 53 appearances, which makes him Rwanda's highest goal scorer.
Cathia Uwamahoro (Cricket)
During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Uwamahoro was just six months old when his father was murdered alongside other relatives.
Her mother miraculously survived with her and she ended up being the only child.
"Growing up as the only child at times made me pretty sad, especially seeing other families with many children. Besides, I also craved that fatherly figure and love, the things that were not easy to put up as a child," she told Weekend Sport in 2021.
Having embraced cricket, Uwamahoro has made giant strides to breaking a Guinness World Record for the longest cricket net session by a woman in 2017, batting for 26 hours straight.
"When I joined cricket, I was inspired by the unit and love in the sport's fraternity. To me, this was like finding a second family; it helped me to have faith and focus on building a future instead of being held by what happened. I am not lonely anymore." She indicated previously.
She has been in the Rwanda national cricket team since 2008.
Adrien Niyonshuti (Cycling)
During the1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, celebrated Rwandan cyclist Adrien Niyonshuti had his 6 brothers and up to 60 members of his extended family all killed.
He survived after hiding between two mattresses for days before moving to the bush with his parents with no food and no water.
When it seemed that he had no hope to make it in life, Niyonshuti found a new life in cycling when his beloved uncle Emmanuel Turatsinze gifted him a second-hand bicycle. He was at the time 16 and that was where his cycling journey began.
Niyonshuti took part in Tour du Rwanda exactly a decade after the genocide against the Tutsi and finished 7th. Since then, he has never looked back.
He went on to win the competition in 2008 on top of being the only cyclist who has represented Rwanda at the Olympic Games twice (London 2012 and Rio 2016).
Aristide Mugabe (Basketball)
Mugabe is the second born from a family of three. He was born on February 11, 1988, to the late Theotime Habiryayo and Veneranda Mukamurehe in Maraba Sector, Huye District in the Southern Province.
He may have lost his father and several members of his family during the genocide but Mugabe did not let that horrific episode be a setback to him and with his hard work, he rose to become a top basketball player.
Mugabe helped Rwanda to qualify for the African Basketball Championship (AfroBasket) finals in 2011, 2013 and was also part of the team that competed in the same competition during the 2017 edition.
ALSO READ: Mugabe: From Genocide agony to top basketballer
He retired from international basketball in 2022 at the age of 34, putting an end to an 11-year career with the national team.
At 37, Mugabe has won seven league championships - with three different clubs. On all occasions, he was the captain, first with Espoir continued in Patriots, where he was part of the Patriots teams that reached the semi-finals of the inaugural edition Basketball Africa League (BAL) in 2021.
He is currently with Kepler as player but also sharing his basketball experience as coach.
Joselyn Umulisa (Tennis)
Born on July 14, 1984 in Kirehe District -Eastern Province, Umulisa was born the seventh child from a family of eight; five girls and three boys.
At barely 9 years of age, her parents Pierre Claver Gashumba (RIP) and Godberthe Mukangarambe (RIP), and five siblings were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
She overcame severe back injuries sustained during the 1994 tragedy to become a prominent Rwandan tennis professional. Introduced to the sport during recovery, she quickly excelled, joining Nyarutarama Tennis Club in 2002 and earning a scholarship to train in South Africa in 2005. Upon her return, she dominated local tournaments and represented Rwanda internationally.
ALSO READ: From Genocide ruins to tennis icon: The making of Joselyne Umulisa
Balancing her athletic pursuits with academics, she secured a scholarship to the University of Rwanda in 2008. Despite reduced training time due to a full-time job post-graduation, Umulisa returned to professional tennis in 2018, also earning a Level 1 coaching license.
Her comeback saw victories in the 2019 Genocide Memorial Tennis Tournament and the Cogebank tournament, alongside a Rwanda Open semi-final appearance.
In 2022, she launched her own tennis academy known as Tennis Rwanda Children's Foundation, marking her transition into nurturing the next generation of Rwandan tennis talent. The academy currently enrolls around 700 children aspiring to become tennis players.
Christophe Mukunzi (Volleyball)
The former national volleyball captain was only 6 when the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi occurred and claimed the lives if his relatives including his father, Mathias Gasarasi.
Despite a hard family background, Mukunzi began his professional volleyball career at 20 with Kigali Volleyball Club (KVC) in 2009, helping them to a third-place league finish and later inspiring them to a KAVC Memorial Tournament title in 2010.
ALSO READ: Mukunzi on his healing after the Genocide - and how volleyball helped
This success led to international stints in Libya, Algeria, Qatar, Turkey, and Bulgaria between 2011 and 2017. Upon returning to Rwanda in 2017, he immediately contributed to Gisagara's league and Carre d'As double title. In 2018, he joined REG, leading them to the playoff finals.
Internationally, Mukunzi debuted for the Rwandan U-23 team in 2010, captaining them to fourth place at the African Championships.
He joined the senior national team in 2011, contributing to their Zone V Championship victory and a fourth-place finish at the All-Africa Games. He was also part of the national teams that finished second in the 2013 Zone V Championship and fourth at the 2015 All-Africa Games.
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He retired from professional volleyball in 2024 aged 35. In his final season he helped Kepler to a fourth-place finish in the CAVB Zone V Club Championship.
Dieudonne Disi (Athletics)
There is no doubt that Disi is a Rwandan athletics legend who enjoyed a successful career in his prime time.
But his journey wasn't that smooth. He was forced to run the race of his life at the age of 14 not to win a medal but to save his own life, when he escaped from his village in Ntyazo, Butare, 50 kilometres near the Burundi border. On the same day his family was brutally wiped out by the Interahamwe militia.
ALSO READ: Disi relives the deadly day he lost his family in Genocide
He later joined the Rwanda Patriotic Army (now Rwanda Defence Forces) but did not abandon his passion for athletics. In 2003, he represented Rwanda at the World Military Cross Country Championships where he emerged the winner. The following year he finished second.
Disi went ahead to compete at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics Games four years later. He has also participated in other international championships.
In 2005, Disi represented his country in the Francophone Games and took gold in the 10,000 metres and bronze in the 5,000 metres.
When he won the gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2005 Francophone Games, the organisers didn't have the Rwandan national anthem, so Disi grabbed the microphone and sang it while standing on the podium.
It was his first major title, a feat his family never lived to witness.
Four years after his Francophone Games triumph, he successfully defended his title in Beirut in 2009, winning another gold medal.
Disi also competed in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, but bowed out of the marathon race after 21km.
He had the potential to achieve more medals but he retired prematurely in 2011 aged 30, citing recurring injuries behind his decision.
He currently lives in the United States.
