Young refugee athlete defies odds to compete in Paris Olympics

Laughter and giggles reverberated through the chilly air at Eldoret Sports Club in Kenya’s Rift Valley region as Perina Nakang and a group of athletes gathered to recover after intense training.

The 21-year-old athlete was doing her final stretches before flying to Paris, where she will compete in the 800-metre race as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.

“I am very happy. God has helped me get this far,” she said.

“I never imagined I would make it to the Olympics. When I finish and I win my race, I will call my mother and tell her ‘Mum, I made it’.”

‘Chasing the wind’

Perina was only 7 years old when her family fled war and found safety in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. It was here that she discovered her love for sports, albeit unintentionally.

She first started playing football and basketball, which she enjoyed, but her friend encouraged her to switch to running.

“I had a friend who liked running and I used to wonder how long she would keep running. I thought it would take her nowhere; it was like chasing the wind,” she giggled.

Nevertheless, she decided to join her friend and they began running together in the camps. She reached a turning point in 2022 when she came second in a women’s 100-metre race in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, which was organized by Athletics Kenya.

“Running has changed the lives of many athletes, so I decided to pursue it seriously,” she said.

Her athletic career was boosted when she won a scholarship to attend the Shoe 4Africa secondary school in Kapsabet town, in the west of the country, which was founded by Kenyan long-distance runner and world record holder Mary Keitany. She is currently pursuing her secondary education there.

Away from the scorching sun of Kakuma, Perina enjoyed a perfect high-altitude environment in Eldoret to train for Paris. Every morning at five o’clock she trained alongside other stellar Kenyan athletes for up to 20 kilometres, greatly improving her speed and endurance.

“We have been preparing both mentally and physically, especially through strength training,” said Janeth Jepkosgei, a Kenyan former Olympic world champion who is now serving as Perina’s coach.

“Perina has been working hard, going from a time of 02:29 to a personal best of 02:12 at the national trials.”

Janeth is hopeful that Perina will shine in Paris and that she will improve significantly on her time – perhaps even surpassing her personal record.

Message to the world

Perina is the only refugee athlete based in Africa on the 37-strong Refugee Olympic Team competing in Paris and representing some 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, partners with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Refuge Foundation to support refugees’ participation in the Games and to promote the power of sports to bring hope to the lives of those forced to flee.

This is the third time a refugee team is taking part in the Olympics, following their historic debut at the Rio 2016 Games. In Paris, they will compete in 12 different sports, ranging from aquatics, athletics, badminton and boxing to taekwondo and wrestling.

Perina hopes to inspire other young refugee athletes to chase their dreams.

“I would like to tell my fellow youth in the camp that life is about working hard,” she said. “You will gain nothing by sitting at home. It’s better to go out and work hard. I want to be a champion like world champions Mary Moraa and Faith Kipyegon. I aspire to be like them.

“My goal is to win at least six gold medals,” she added. “After that, I can retire and mentor aspiring athletes to become like me.”

Her message to the world and everyone watching this year’s Olympic Games is to put themselves in the shoes of refugees.

“Refugees are like you,” she said. “They study and they have talent.”