In Kenya, a refugee team trains for the Tokyo Olympics
Audio 01:24
Refugee athletes including Rose Nathike Lokonyen (r.) In Ngong training camp near Nairobi in 2017 © TONY KARUMBA / AFP
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5 mins
Former Kenyan marathoner Tegla Loroupe uses her notoriety to defend the cause of refugees through sport.
She founded an athletics training center in Ngong, near Nairobi, which accommodates refugees.
Originally from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia or the DRC, they practice athletics and some have even been selected to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Albane Thirouard
Rose Nathike Lokonyen is from South Sudan.
She fled the civil war in 2002 when her village was attacked.
She arrived at Kakuma camp in Kenya when she was just eight years old with her family.
It was only in 2015 that she started athletics in earnest by joining the Tegla Loroupe training center.
Today, Rose is training for Tokyo, her second participation in the Olympic Games: “
Being a runner, sport, it changed my life and it made me who I am today, it gave me hope.
And it has also given to refugees around the world.
It shows that refugees are human beings, that they can do what others do, that ultimately being a refugee is only a status.
"
Thrive with sport
Giving refugees a chance through sport is precisely the objective that
the former marathoner Tegla Loroupe set for herself
when she set up her training center: “
I decided to help refugees through sport. , because it is my domain, because sport does not know politics. It is something that unites us. Often people have
prejudices
about refugees. But ultimately, as human beings, we all have to learn from their stories, from their resilience.
"
Rose Lokonyen Nathike made history as the flagbearer for the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016, now she's aiming to leave a mark at @ Tokyo2020 as well.
Find out more about her inspiring story.👉https: //t.co/5Z9y865848 @RefugeesOlympic |
@WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/F25lBa7eIC
- Olympics (@Olympics) March 16, 2021
The center currently accommodates around twenty refugees who train in athletics.
Selections within the Kakuma and
Dadaab camps
are due soon to expand the squad.
Because Tegla Loroupe is already thinking about Paris 2024.
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