Running Two Decades Without a Single Medal, 38-Year-Old Track Star Turns Tables at World Indoor Championships

The 2024 World Indoor Championships have just concluded with a bang. Besides setbacks and injuries trying to plague the three-day-long event, the athletes have composed success stories with tears of pure exultation. In the 800m roster, there was someone who dedicated her life to being a pacemaker in international circuits. A dominant name in the 800m and 1500m events, Noelie Yarigo has been the leader of the pack in many. But the recent Indoors win holds a special place in her heart.

Thea LaFond soared to victory in the women’s triple jump event, taking her nation Dominica to its first World victory. Yarigo’s story also entails something similar as she fell on the ground with a satisfied heart after her feat.

The World Indoor Championships icon made the Benin Republic proud

The X post of Track & Field Gazette reads, “38-year-old Noelie Yarigo. has competed for 20 years! She has waited patiently and today, she won Bronze in the women’s 800m final at the #WorldIndoorChamps in Glasgow”. The caption further reads, “It’s the first global medal of any kind for an athlete from Benin Republic. Icon!” Since 2015, the 38-year-old has been toiling for a medal on the global stage but failed to attain a place on the podium. But now, after she clocked in at 2:03.15 to nab the bronze, her elation knew no bounds. Moreover, being a two-time Olympian and having made waves on the Wanda Diamond League and Continental Tour, Yarigo missed out on the Tokyo Olympics due to an unforeseen ankle injury.

As she eyes the Paris Olympics this year, she also boasts of some life decisions that have helped steer her career wheel. In 2022, joined Valentin Anghel’s training group to train under a Romanian coach. She suddenly saw herself stepping down from the pacemaker role to focus more on bettering her athletic skills. But why did she connect more to the role in the first place?

Yarigo’s penchant for setting the pace

“Whether I’m pacing or racing, I like to be in the front because it means I can control the pace. I have learned to do my own racing, to be a front-runner and not to fear being in the lead”, said the 38-year-old legend. From 2005 to 2012, Yarigo wasn’t actively competing on track, which resulted in a difficult situation. But the next year, she broke the two-minute barrier for the first time in 2016 at the Rio Olympics heats.

But clocking in at 1:59.78 at the semi-finals struck her out of the final roster. Even though, she unfurled her victory flag as the foremost Benin native to have reached that stage. “I love my sport, and athletics are all about competing and racing”, said Noelie Yarigo, who will probably attempt to secure her third Olympic spot.

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