Yolanda Ngarambe

Road to Atlanta Track Club Elite

Yolanda grew up in Märsta, Sweden, a far northern suburb of Stockholm. Her early memories of running are at weekly summer meets (called, simply, the Thursday Meet) from the ages of 5 to 11, while visiting her grandmother in Finland. Back in Sweden, she played soccer and tennis. The year before high school, she ran the Stockholm Mini Marathon, a youth 4K, and finished third, receiving an invitation to a running camp that led to Yolanda enrolling in Löpargymnasiet, a federation-sponsored division of a high school in nearby Sollentuna. After learning of scholarship opportunities in the U.S., she decided to attend the University of Vermont, from which she graduated in 2014. After a brief return to Sweden, she missed the culture of running camaraderie in the U.S. and returned, becoming one of the first athletes to compete for Atlanta Track Club Elite after it formed in 2015.

Why Atlanta Track Club Elite?

Through serendipity. Although planning to return to Sweden permanently after graduation, Yolanda agreed to stay in the U.S. a bit longer to train with a college teammate who hoped to turn professional. The woman ended up training with the Distance Divas, coached by Amy and Andrew Begley when Amy Begley was a coach at the University of Connecticut, and Yolanda joined them for a few months before leaving for home. When the pair became coaches of Atlanta Track Club Elite soon after, they invited Yolanda to become a member of its inaugural group.

It Was a Very Good Year

In 2019, Yolanda made her first World and European Championships teams, won her first Swedish national title and set an indoor national record in the mile.

Taking Flight Early

Yolanda says her father likes to tell a story about the time they were late for a flight in London. She was 3 or 4, and Albert thought he might have to carry her as they dashed for the plane. Instead, they ran together all the way and made the flight "But then I threw up," she added. "He said he always knew I was an athlete."

An Education in Itself

Looking for a college to attend and compete for in the U.S. was an eye-opener for Yolanda. She started by going to the NCAA's website and just sending the same email to 20 or so coaches, stating her PRs and asking for a scholarship - which she thought was just symbolic, because college in Sweden is free. "I knew Division I was where I had to go, but I didn't know what that meant," she said. "I would just click schools. I thought every school was the same." Once at UVM, even her excellent English was sometimes tested: "One time someone said, 'what's up?' and I didn't know how to answer that. Words like 'whatever' and "oh my gosh.'"

Clearing Things Up

No, Yolanda does not have dual Swedish and Finnish citizenship, although her mother was born in Finland and young Yolanda spent weeks there every summer as a child. And no, her father is not Rwandan, he's Ugandan, but Yolanda does have other relatives in Rwanda. (Several news reports have gotten this wrong). Her parents were already adults when each came to Sweden, which is where they met and still live.

Table Talk

Yolanda speaks Swedish, Finnish and English. At the dinner table back home, the family usually speaks English. Separately, she'll speak Finnish with her mother, English with her father and Swedish with her brother and sister. "I never think about it until I realize, 'this is different,'" she said.

Africa's Allure

Growing up, Yolanda traveled to East Africa - which she calls her favorite place in the world - every four years to visit relatives, and she still looks forward to visits. "When I go there, I feel so happy, at peace. Maybe it's the community. I just feel like I could live there because it's so open and welcoming. When I'm there I don't focus so much on things the way I do in Sweden or the U.S. I'm less worried about social media or my income or anything like that. I feel like I'm focused on the right things. I love that I'm from many countries; it gives me a richer life."

How She Knows She's Ready to Race

"It's a certain way you feel. You can just tell when you're in shape. It sounds slow, but when I can run 800 repeats in 2:30 pace and it feels like a walk in the park, I think 'hmmm, I'm ready to race.'"

Want to Know More?

• Yolanda says it wasn't until she got to college that she realized how intense and near-professional her high school was, filled with the top Swedes. Vermont was good for her, she said, because it made her truly learn to have fun while training and competing.
• Watching track on TV when she was young prompted her to say she was going to move to the U.S. or Kenya to run, since those are the athletes who stood out to her.
• She's been a vegan since high school.
• One of Yolanda's favorite Atlanta Track Club events is the Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Half Marathon, 5K, Mile & Dash. "There's so much good energy," she said. "It's a holiday I don't have a connection to, but with the 5K that's my connection to the tradition."