Refugee athlete Lohalith’s hard work finally paying off

As she prepares for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships set for Bathurst on 18 February, Athlete Refugee Team (ART) member Angelina Nadai Lohalith is putting in the work and looks set to give the favorites a run for their money.

Lohalith, the most experienced runner in the ART team will lead her team in Bathurst in the mixed relay, where the team will look to upset the form book. 

In her latest outing which formed part of her preparations for the world cross country event, the 28-year-old claimed a shock win at the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country in Castellon, Spain, on Sunday 5 February. 

Kenya hopes to clear doing crisis before bidding for the World Athletics Championships

Her win marked the first time an athlete in the World Athletics refugee team programme notched a victory in an international competition.

"After the World Championships in Oregon I came back to Kenya and I started to work harder towards my goal to succeed as a long distance runner,” Lohalith said after the win. 

She continued, "I am training hard all week. I only train and sleep. Even during Christmas, when all the athletes in the camp travelled back home, I stayed in the camp for training. I do not see my son and parents too often because I have a goal to improve further at the Olympics in Paris next year.”

Lohalith, a native of South Sudan who is based in Kenya, surged from the field after four laps of the five-lap contest, clocking 27:55 over the 8.7km course to secure a five-second victory in Spain. 

A member of the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Refugee Team, she was competing in Castellon as a guest for Tel Aviv’s Alley Runners Club, where several other Athlete Refugee Team members are based.

Lohalith made her ART debut at the 2017 World Championships in London and in 2022 represented the team at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade last year, the African Championships and the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, competing over 1500m.

Her appearance in Castellon was her first over a distance longer than 1500m, boding well for her planned transition to the 5000m and 10,000m events.

Lohalith fled from her village in South Sudan at nine, settled in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya in 2002 and later began taking part in running competitions at her high school in the camp.

Tegla Loroupe Foundation coaches spotted her talent and invited her to join a training camp in Ngong. 

In 2016, she was one of 10 refugee athletes selected to compete at the Rio Olympic Games under the Refugee Team flag, a selection that set the course for her steady rise since.

Additional reporting by World Athletics