Kenya-trained refugee team aims to shine

The special refugee team entered for the World Championships at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, August 3, 2017. Left to right: Rose Nathike (800 metres), Ladislav Demko (team manager), Angeline Nadai (1,500m), Dominic Lokinyomo (1,500m), Omar Kader (5,000m), Bashir Ahmed (800m) and head coach John Anzrah. PHOTO | ELIAS MAKORI |

What you need to know:

  • As the IAAF World Championships kicks off Friday here, a special team of refugees will be seeking to defy the odds make an impact.
  • The refugee team, led by Kenya’s globally acclaimed sports peace ambassador Tegla Loroupe, will field five athletes who have been training alongside the Kenyan team in Nairobi.
  • They are coached by John Anzrah, the legendary former Kenya sprints champion.

IN LONDON

As the IAAF World Championships kicks off Friday here, a special team of refugees will be seeking to defy the odds make an impact.

The refugee team, led by Kenya’s globally acclaimed sports peace ambassador Tegla Loroupe, will field five athletes who have been training alongside the Kenyan team in Nairobi.

They are coached by John Anzrah, the legendary former Kenya sprints champion.

Loroupe, a former world marathon record holder, has been advocating for peace and uses sports as one way of ending clan violence in the North Rift, especially in her home county of West Pokot.

The five athletes have largely based their training in Ngong, Kajiado County, and are confident that they will be able to run well and even leave a mark by showing the world why there is need for peace.

John Anzrah, the head coach of the refugees team, has a feel of the Olympic Stadium track on Wednesday, August 3, ahead of the World Championships. PHOTO | ELIAS MAKORI |

Angelina Nadai, who will compete in the 1,500 metres, said her participation in the event is a message to the whole world that there is need to be peace all over.

“I will be running in the 1,500m which I have trained well but my participation is a message to the world that we need peace regardless of where we come from.

“As refugees we cannot be under rated because we are also capable of doing something good,” said Nadai.

She adds that they were forced by circumstances to be where they are, and that their prayer is to have people live in harmony.

“We were just forced to be in the camps after civil war in South Sudan, but we really want to thank Loroupe for thinking about us who can participate in athletics.

“Many more youths need such exposure and there is need for more federations to come in and help them,” she added.

She got a chance to participate in last year’s Olympics Games in Rio but didn’t advance to the finals.

Other athletes who are in the team are Rose Nathike (800m), Dominic Lokinyomo (1,500m), Omar Kadar (5,000m) and Bashir Ahmed (800m).

Head coach Anzrah says that the team prepared well and they will be looking forward to a good event as the games begin.

“The team here is determined and they have been training well alongside the Kenyan team where I’m sure they were able to pick something good from the experienced athletes. We expect them to do well here,” said Anzrah at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday.