Noélie Yarigo

Noélie Ditchakou Yarigo (born 26 December 1985) is a middle-distance runner from Benin who competes primarily in the 800 metres. She represented her country at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Yarigo holds five Beninese national records including at 800 m indoors and out.

Career
Noélie Yarigo set her first Beninese 800 metres record in 2003 at the age of 17, reducing it to 2:11.61 while still a teenager two years later. But she then took a long break from the sport, and only returned in 2012 at the age of 26.

She serves with the Benin Air Force. She was given leave to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and used it to train in France at the club run by the wife of her coach. At the Games, Yarigo broke for the first time the two-minute barrier in the heats with a time of 1:59.12.

At the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she twisted her ankle in the heats.

On 8 February 2023, at age 37 and after primarily focusing on being a pacemaker on the international racing circuit before, Yarigo set a significant personal best in the 800 m. She clocked 1:58.48 for second at the indoor Copernicus Cup in Toruń, Poland, improving her 1:59.12 set outdoors at the 2016 Rio Games.

Personal bests

 * 400 metres – 53.20 (Ouagadougou 2017)
 * 400 metres indoor – 55.11 (Bordeaux 2014)
 * 800 metres – 1:59.12 (Rio de Janeiro 2016)
 * 800 metres indoor – 1:58.48 (Toruń 2023)
 * 1000 metres – 2:36.30 (Heusden-Zolder 2021)
 * 1500 metres – 4:20.09 (Blois 2018)