Refugee Olympic Team on a mission to storm the medal party in Japan

Jul 08, 2021 | News On Japan

Jul 08, 2021 (Xinhua) - Some 11,091 athletes from around the world are expected to feature at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in what will be the 32nd running of the biggest multi-sport event on the planet.

While most eyes will be fixed on the battle for medals from representatives of 206 International Olympics Committee (IOC) members, special attention will be focused on a group of 29 athletes competing under the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) banner.

Four of these special entrants have been training under former world women marathon record holder Tegla Loroupe, who is also the Chef de Mission for the EOR.

On June 8, IOC President Thomas Bach announced the final squad for Tokyo 2020 that was selected from 56 promising refugee athletes drawn from 13 countries, marking the second Summer Games the EOR will feature.

Six EOR athletes will be returning to the Summer Games after the squad first made its debut at Rio 2016 as a group of 10.

Loroupe, a retired champion distance runner and acclaimed Global Peace Ambassador, has been training the four EOR runners in Ngong Hills, located southwest of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The quartet is part of the refugee athletes who call the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation (TLPF) camp in Ngong home.

Rose Lokonyen, Paulo Lokoro, James Nyang Chiengjiek and Anjelina Lohalith - all from South Sudan- are gearing up for their second Olympics under the watchful eye of Loroupe, who retired from her champion distance running career to become a global peace ambassador.

Lokonyen, who made history in Rio when she carried the EOR flag on her maiden appearance, is keen on improving on her two minutes and 16.64 seconds performance in the women's 800m that saw her finish seventh in her heat and fail to progress to the semifinals.

"I'm hoping to improve on my time and also to wish all the best to my colleagues. At least we can do something at Tokyo 2020," Lokonyen told Chinese TV network CGTN Africa.

Like all other athletes around the world, the EOR team was hit by the pandemic when lockdown measures were introduced in Kenya in March last year.

But unlike their counterparts who compete under their national flags, Lokonyen and her peers were forced to relocate from their Ngong camp to the sprawling Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya, the largest settlement for displaced persons in sub-Saharan Africa.

This saw the group completely cut off from their coaches and training regimen in what was a big blow to their ambitions and fitness.

However, they took the setback in their stride to keep their Olympics dream alive.

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