Background
At the time, Nukuri had already lost her father to the conflict, and she knew she would have no running career had she stayed in Burundi.
long-distance runner marathon runner athletics competitor
At the time, Nukuri had already lost her father to the conflict, and she knew she would have no running career had she stayed in Burundi.
However, Nukuri-Johnson spoke very little English, so she attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.
She competed for Burundi as a fifteen-year-old in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney in the 5,000m and in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the marathon. Nukuri-Johnson ran for The University of Iowa in college. Nukuri began running in her early teens, starting little more than a year prior to her first Olympic experience (the 2000 Olympics in Sydney).
She ran in the junior IAAF World Cross Country Championships twice, placing 18th in 2000 and 27th the following year.
After the games, Nukuri fled to Toronto, seeking asylum from the Burundi civil war. She was granted asylum, and lived with relatives in Pickering, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.
Nukuri-Johnson continued to run while living in Canada, and began drawing interest from cross country and distance track coaches from American universities, in particular The University of Iowa. At Butler, Nukuri-Johnson trained under Kirk Hunter while learning English (her third language), taking classes, and amassing 9 NJCAA national championships and 17 NJCAA All-American honors.
After two seasons at Butler, Nukuri-Johnson transferred to The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa to work with coach Layne Anderson, who recruited Diane directly out of high school.
Anderson was largely responsible for Nukuri-Johnson attending Butler. She left Iowa with school records in ten events. In her final collegiate race (the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, 10,000 meters), a major side stitch forced Nukuri-Johnson into an early exit with only a few laps remaining while in second place.
She graduated from Iowa with a bachelor"s degree in Communications in the fall of 2008.
She competed in her first professional race at the 2008 Shelter Island 10K. Major race performances are below. Nukuri-Johnson first competed in the Olympics at the age of 15, running the 5,000 meters at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
She finished 14th in her heat but did not advance to the finals. She returned to the Olympics twelve years later, competing in the women"s marathon.
She finished in 31st place, setting another Burundian National Record (she owned the previous mark in the marathon) in 2:30:13.
118 runners started the race, and 107 finished. Nukuri-Johnson was also the flag-bearer for Burundi, leading the country"s six athletes at the opening ceremony. Nukuri-Johnson also carried the flag in Sydney.
She bettered her national record at the New York City Half Marathon in March 2013, narrowly finishing second to Caroline Rotich in a time of 1:09:12 hours.
Nukuri-Johnson is currently the Burundian record-holder in the 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, half marathon, and the marathon. She continues training in Iowa City with Coach Anderson.
Her story has been documented in a number of articles, including Running Times in October 2012.