Refugee athletes in Kenya vie for a chance at Olympic preparation

More than 100 refugee athletes recently took part in athletics, judo and taekwondo selection trials at the Lornah Kiplagat stadium in Eldoret, Kenya. The athletes were competing with the aim of being selected for the Refugee Athlete Support programme. This provides assistance for their training and participation in competitions, with the ultimate goal of being selected for the Refugee Olympic Team Dakar 2026 or LA 2028.

Competing across athletics, judo and taekwondo, the athletics trials included races over 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m. The trials were organised by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), in close collaboration with Athletics Kenya, World Athletics and the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF), with support from the Kenyan Taekwondo Federation and the Kenyan Judo Federation.

Selected athletes will receive a Refugee Athlete Scholarship, to support them on their road to LA 28. This will include a training camp where the scholarship-holders will live and train, with the support of the NOCK.

A further group of youth athletes will be selected for the Youth Development Programme, with hopes of reaching the Refugee Youth Olympic Team Dakar 2026. The young athletes will continue their preparation from their respective home, so that they can pursue their education.

Dakar 2026 will be the first Olympic event held on the African continent, and in the spirit of hosting African Games for the world, the focus in putting together the first Refugee Youth Olympic Team will be on selecting mostly Africa-based athletes.

The “cradle” of the Refugee Olympic Team

Kenya is among the top refugee-hosting countries in Africa, and currently hosts more than 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Forty per cent of the refugees in Kenya live in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Earlier this month, more than 400 athletes attended pre-trials, from whom senior athletes and junior athletes were selected to take part in the official trials in Eldoret.

Kenya and Kakuma have been an important part of the Refugee Athlete Support programme and the Refugee Olympic Team since the very beginning. Half of the Team that first competed at Rio 2016 hailed from Kakuma, and in a recent visit to the country, IOC President Thomas Bach referred to Kakuma Refugee Camp as “the cradle of the Refugee Olympic Team”.

Final selection for the Refugee Olympic Teams for both Dakar 2026 and LA 2028 will be made by the IOC Executive Board at a later date.