Niyonkuru Makes History For Rwanda in Glasgow

Florence Niyonkuru secured Rwanda’s first-ever senior Commonwealth Games medal with bronze in the women’s 10,000m at Glasgow 2026.
Niyonkuru finished in 31:55.47, holding off Uganda’s Esther Chebet by 0.23 seconds to claim the final place on the podium. Australia’s Rose Davies won gold in 31:39.32, becoming the first Australian woman to win the Commonwealth 10,000m title, while Kenya’s Diana Wanza took silver.
For Rwanda, the result ended a wait stretching back to the country’s Commonwealth Games debut at Delhi 2010. Glasgow 2026 was its fifth appearance at the senior Games, having also competed at Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 without winning a medal.
The country had produced strong performances before without reaching the podium. At its first Games in Delhi in 2010, world Para-athletics champion Hermas Muvunyi finished sixth in the men’s T46 100m.
At Birmingham 2022, Olivier Ntagengwa and Venuste Gatsinzi reached the bronze-medal match in the men’s beach volleyball before finishing fourth, while Yves Nimubona placed fifth in the men’s 5,000m.
Rwanda had also enjoyed success at youth level, winning women’s beach-volleyball bronze at the Bahamas 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. It was the country’s first medal at any Commonwealth competition, but a place on the podium at the senior Games had remained out of reach.
Niyonkuru changed that in Glasgow. The race had been expected to feature Scotland’s defending champion Eilish McColgan, but she withdrew two days before the final after a toe injury had kept her from running for almost 10 weeks.
For Niyonkuru, the bronze continued a breakthrough season in which she has emerged as one of Africa’s leading distance runners. In March, she finished fourth at the Berlin Half Marathon in 1:07:22, setting a Rwandan national record.
A month later, she won the TCS World 10K Bengaluru on her debut at the event, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Brenda Jepchirchir.
Niyonkuru then claimed silver in the women’s 10,000m at the African Athletics Championships in Accra in May.