Loroupe hoping for world peace as refugees’team ready for second Olympics appearance

Three-time world half marathon Tegla Loroupe has dedicated her life to harnessing the power of sport to promote peace and since establishing her Peace Foundation almost two decades ago her efforts are making a difference in conflict-stricken areas.

In 2014 Loroupe took her peace-building efforts to refugee camps in Kenya. She petitioned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to give refugees a chance to advance in their athletics careers by taking part in the Olympics. 

Her vision was realised in 2016 when the first Refugee Olympic Team was constituted, comprising 10 refugees from Syria, Congo, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, providing a symbol of hope to the more than 65 million people globally who are currently displaced by conflict. Five of the team members came from Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp.

Since then, the team has participated in different competitions in Kenya and outside the country. Currently, a team is in training hoping to participate at this year’s World Indoor Games scheduled for Belgrade, Serbia on 18 to 20 March. 

“My dream has been to help young people gain confidence and purpose through athletics,” said Loroupe in an interview with World Athletics. “I have learned so much from my sport and I want to share this. When I was looking for financial support to start the training camps, World Athletics was generous and the Refugee Team that competed at the Rio 2016 Games owes its early preps to the funding and support from World Athletics.”

Just seven months after the Olympic Games, Loroupe, with the help of World Athletics, formed the Athlete Refugee Team. Ever since the Athlete Refugee Team has been invited to compete at all World Athletics Series events.

Most recently they competed at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, where Otmane Nait-Hammou finished 67th in the field of 122, clocking 1:03:28 to beat some of the world’s finest half-marathon runners. Yonas Kinde is another top-performing refugee athlete; he set a marathon PB of 2:17:12 in 2019.

The team is also preparing for their second appearance at an Olympic Games, and once again Loroupe will be the team’s chef de mission.

“Finding peace through sport is a way to bring peace to so many refugees and disadvantaged people and when peace exists development is possible,” says Loroupe. “As part of the foundation's work, training refugee athletes for the Olympics has been a dream come true, and we know if these athletes are on the world stage we will continue to create more peace in the world.”

“In sport, it’s important to give back. We need to create room for love, reconciliation, and work,” she added.

“Refugees are good people and they are very resilient. They’ve been through hard lives, and they are still standing tall. I see myself as a mother for those who need a mother.”