Refugee Youth Team Begins Dakar 2026 Camp in Cheptigit

By Anneth Chepngetich

CHEPTIGIT, Uasin Gishu County

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2026

Six young refugee athletes have begun a two-week residential training camp in Cheptigit as they prepare to make history as members of the first-ever Youth Olympic Refugee Team at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

The athletes, identified as Nyataba, Lawrence, Clement, Rashid, Arnold and Florence, have converged at the Complete Sports Training Centre in Uasin Gishu County for their first joint residential camp.

The six athletes come from refugee communities living in Kenya and Uganda and will compete in athletics, judo and taekwondo during the Games scheduled for October and November in Senegal.

Their preparations were highlighted on Wednesday during a Media and Stakeholder Engagement Day held at the training centre. The event brought together representatives from World Athletics, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Olympic Refuge Foundation and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK).

The programme comes at a time when forced displacement remains a major global concern. UNHCR estimates that more than 117 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide, with millions living across Eastern and Southern Africa.

World Athletics stresses athlete protection

Alice Annibali of World Athletics said Kenya has played an important role in developing the organisation’s refugee athlete programme.

“As you can see, I’m a big fan of the refugee programme like many of our representatives here in Kenya. And in Uganda as well,” Annibali said.

She noted that Uganda recently joined the programme following trials conducted last year.

“The Athletics Federation of Uganda just joined us this year through trials that were held last year,” she said.

Annibali said World Athletics relies heavily on national federations because they understand the local environment and work directly with athletes.

“We are the world governing body and we count on them to represent us here,” she said.

She also emphasised the importance of safeguarding refugee athletes, particularly because some have experienced trauma before joining organised sport.

“As we all know, refugee athletes come from very traumatic backgrounds and they may not react like any other athlete who has grown up in a training camp in their own country,” Annibali said.

“We have to be sensitive to that. We learned along the way and we will continue to learn,” she added.

Kipchoge urges athletes to embrace Olympic values

Eliud Kipchoge, World Athletics Refugee Athletes’ Mentor, told the athletes that their participation in Dakar should be about more than competition.

“I’m able to bring discipline, I’m able to bring honesty and love, I’m able to promote the Olympic values of unity and making peace,” Kipchoge said.

He said sport could provide the athletes with a platform to influence society despite the circumstances that forced them from their homes.

“Sport can actually change the world,” Kipchoge said.

Kipchoge also reminded the athletes that they should not see themselves as less important because they are refugees.

“We are not less. We are owning this world, this is our own home,” he said.

He challenged the young athletes to make full use of the opportunity presented by the Youth Olympics.

“You have no option but to work hard and perform because sport has actually provided you an opportunity to actually showcase your talent,” Kipchoge said.

UNHCR highlights power of inclusion

Takeshi Moriyama, Strategic Partnership Advisor at UNHCR, said the programme demonstrates how sport can bring refugees and host communities together.

“The power of sports is in the process,” Moriyama said.

He explained that the athletes were not training in isolation but were sharing the experience with members of the communities hosting them.

“The refugees are here, hosted by the country generously, and the refugees through sports trained together with host communities, share the challenges and the moments together, and that itself is practically refugee inclusion,” he said.

Moriyama also highlighted the significance of Dakar 2026 as the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil.

“This forthcoming Olympics will not be the last, but this will be the beginning of the partnership,” he said.

He praised the determination shown by the athletes and their host communities during the preparations.

“I really admire how much determination and commitment the refugees and also host communities have put together,” Moriyama said.

Olympic Refuge Foundation praises Kenya

Gonzalo Barrio of the Olympic Refuge Foundation said Kenya’s involvement in the refugee Olympic movement goes back to the formation of the first Refugee Olympic Team.

“Once the Refugee Olympic Team, the very first Refugee Olympic Team was announced in 2016, we started working with Kenya and the refugee athletes here,” Barrio said.

He noted that Kenyan-based refugee athletes played a major role in the historic team that competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“As a matter of fact, they’ve composed half of the first Refugee Olympic Team in 2016,” he said.

Barrio said Kenya remains an important base for refugee athletes preparing for international competition.

“We see again that Kenya hosts the majority of the athletes of the Youth Olympic Refugee Team,” he said.

He described the Kenyan programme as an example of how different sporting and humanitarian organisations can work together.

“What we are achieving here in Kenya is the gold standard of what we want to achieve across the world,” Barrio said.

He said the programme involves national and international federations, NOCK and UNHCR at different stages of athlete development.

Pur Biel says athletes are building friendships

Pur Biel, Chef de Mission of the Dakar 2026 Olympic Refugee Team, said the young athletes had responded positively to their first joint camp.

“It has been an honor to be here today and yesterday. The athletes are very happy,” Biel said.

“For the first time, these athletes are coming together, training together, staying together, and encouraging one another,” he added.

Biel, himself a former refugee Olympian who competed at Rio 2016, said the athletes have a responsibility that goes beyond their individual performances.

“These six athletes are a representation of a million of young athletes, young refugees who are living in refugee camps in different circumstances,” he said.

“What we are looking for for the Dakar is to represent the million of refugees and also to participate,” Biel added.

He said the athletes could use their participation to promote peace and encourage other young refugees to pursue sport.

“These young athletes will be part of the peace promotion around the world and also continue to be mentors for the young refugees who are living in refugee camps,” Biel said.

“This is the beginning of their life,” he added.

NOCK backs refugee inclusion

Barnaba Korir, NOCK First Deputy President, said Kenya’s support for refugee athletes reflects the country’s broader approach towards people displaced from their homes.

“The policy of the government of Kenya has been having what we call an open borders, especially for people from different countries who are having challenges in their own countries,” Korir said.

He said NOCK’s role was to extend that principle into sport.

“What National Olympic Committee is doing is replicating what the government of Kenya has done by giving a chance to the refugees,” he said.

Korir said the programme gives talented refugee athletes an opportunity to develop their abilities and compete alongside other athletes.

“The program that was initiated by IOC and also now being supported by World Athletics is that nurturing of talent and giving those who have got a chance to make a difference in their lives is also giving that opportunity to do so,” he said.

He acknowledged the challenges involved in bringing together athletes from different countries and backgrounds.

“Putting a team together from different perspectives is not very easy, but this serves as an example of the success,” Korir said.

He said the team also sends a message to other countries about the role refugees can play in international sport.

“Refugees don’t have to suffer quietly. They can also be participants in the games where the world is part of that,” Korir said.

Athletes prepare for historic Dakar Games

The six athletes will remain at the Complete Sports Training Centre for the two-week residential camp as they continue to sharpen their technical and physical skills.

For many of them, the camp is also an opportunity to develop relationships with fellow athletes who have experienced displacement and major changes in their lives.

Their participation in Dakar will give them an opportunity to compete on an international stage while representing millions of young refugees around the world.

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will be held in Senegal in October and November. The event will be the first Olympic event to take place on African soil, giving the refugee athletes another historic chapter to their participation in the Olympic movement.

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