The penultimate athlete on our countdown may not have had a long high school running career in Ottawa, but he certainly made the strongest of impressions in his short time. Glebe Collegiate’s Yves Sikubwabo was a dominating runner during his two-year high school career in Ottawa, going undefeated and winning back-to-back OFSAA cross country titles.
Sikubwabo arrived in Ottawa by happenstance and fear for his life in the summer of 2010 at the age 17. The Rwandan native, who had lost both parents at the age of one to ethnic fighting in 1994 had been in Canada to race the 1500 metres at the World Under 20 Championships in Moncton. Following the Championships, his aunt, who had raised him, advised he stay in Canada for his personal safety. With less than 200 hundred dollars in his pocket, he made his way to the Moncton bus terminal, and remembering from his geography class that Ottawa was the capital, reasoned it would be the best place for him to claim refugee status. With the help of his Canadian parents, Nicole Le Saux and James Farmer, Yves enrolled at Glebe and the rest they say, is history.
The grade 11 student made an immediate impression on the local running scene. At that city championships, Sikubwabo gave good preview of what was in store for the rest of the province when he annihilated the field, including future Canadian U20 record holder at 1500 metres, Adam Palamar, who finished in second, more than 90 seconds behind. A week later at OFSAA, Sikubwabo found himself running in the coldest weather he had faced as a runner, which left him unsure if he could even finish the seven-kilometre race under the conditions. However, by the second loop of the course his body had begun to warm up . “My body was changing and I felt good. I attacked the first-place people and I caught them. I was comfortable and I said to myself I can win,” he told The Ottawa Citizen. Sikubwabo would be the first across the line that day, 12 seconds ahead of silver medalist Rob Denault, in 21 minutes and 22.02 seconds.
Sikubwabo ended his short high school career with one of the strongest season’s high Canadian high school cross country has witnessed as he would win each of the six races he entered that season in a course record time. Running at home at the Hornet’s Nest in Gloucester was a special end his short high school career. “This was the hardest course I’ve ever done. The hills and the forest made it hard, but I did my best to defend my gold medal here at home,” he told The Ottawa Citizen. Yves’ course winning time of 22 minutes and 25.9 seconds on the seven-kilometre course was 24 seconds ahead of the silver medalist and an impressive 75 seconds faster than his previous record on the course.
After graduating from Glebe, Sikubwabo made his way to the University of Guelph where he would study mathematics for three years before transferring to Laval University in Quebec City to finish his studies. During his collegiate career, Sikubwabo captured four team titles, earned All-Canadian honours all five years and was back-to-back national champion in his final two years. Since finishing school, Yves has represented Canada at the World Cross Country Championships and set up an organization, Running Changed My Life, geared toward helping Rwandan and Kenyan Children attend school as well as take part in sport.