Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (South Sudan, 28 years old) fled her war-torn country at the age of just seven. As she was able, she arrived with her aunt at the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, one of the largest in the world. “Everything was destroyed, surrounded by landmines, we couldn’t continue there starving and fearing for our lives,” he recalls in a telephone conversation from the African country. A commentator’s voice can be heard in the background, whistles and shouts of encouragement, the din of a race. You are about to direct one.
Today, she is a renowned track and field athlete, having competed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 with the Refugee Athletes Olympic Team, formed in 2015 amid the migration crisis. In February, Nadai became the first athlete from this group of 52 from 12 different countries to win an international race after competing as a guest at the Alley Runners Club in Tel Aviv, where other members of the Refugee Athlete Team meet at the Cross Country Cup of Clubs, held in Oropesa del Mar (Castellón), where he clocked a time of 27 minutes over the 8.7 km distance of the test. “When I won the European title in Spain I was very emotional. All my life I wanted to win a medal. I believed in myself, in my work, in my efforts, I did my best and I made it,” she shares.
Despite his sporting successes, Nadai, who has lived in Kenya for more than two decades, does not forget his reality. Neither are those of the more than 32.5 million people who, like them, have been forced to seek refuge in other countries, according to the latest UNHCR figures from mid-2022. “Being a refugee is not easy and we are millions in the world . We are fleeing wars, violence, persecution… We don’t have a country, we don’t have some rights. I’m proud to be a refugee and I like to assume that I represent us, that I’m our ambassador, because although it’s a condition you can’t change, you have to stay positive and get some good out of life do it,” she affirmed.
Neither my parents nor parts of society understand that I am running as a refugee woman. But I do not care. It gives me more strength, more determination
In 2002, Nadai’s parents had to send her to the Kakuma refugee camp for security reasons. South Sudan – which was part of its northern neighbor Sudan before 2011 – was embroiled in what is known as the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), the costliest conflict since World War II.
“Besides attending elementary school, I started running in the countryside of Kakuma for fun. I excelled in school tournaments, and some time later I was chosen to train with Olympic marathon champion Tegla Loroupe in Ngong on the outskirts of Nairobi,” the athlete says of her childhood and youth in the settlement. “I ran 15 kilometers barefoot for the test. I was only thinking about reaching the finish line, about what awaits me after crossing it,” he explains.
In addition to two Olympic Games and the European Championships in Oropesa del Mar, the World Championships in London 2017, in Oregon 2022 and the African Championships awaited him. “Sport has helped me a lot. Besides being able to represent so many people who are going through the same thing as me, it gives me hope and the opportunity to fulfill my dreams. And it helps me put the pain behind me,” he says.
woman and refugee
After Rio 2016, Nadai became a mother and after Tokyo 2020, she was reunited with her parents after not seeing them for 18 years. “If I go far and succeed, my dream is none other than to help my family who now lives in Kakuma,” says the athlete, who hopes to one day return to her country, still on the brink of famine and no hope for peace The refugee crisis in South Sudan remains the largest in Africa, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with more than 2.3 million people seeking refuge in neighboring countries, mainly Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, and another two million in the internally displaced persons.
Nadai admits that it is “not easy at all” to get far as a refugee and a woman. “Neither my parents nor parts of society understand that I am running as a refugee woman. But I do not care. It gives me more strength, more determination.” For her, the most important thing is to be remembered as “someone who works for what they want, who fights, is resilient, who doesn’t get in their way with anything or anyone “I’m moving forward, always forward,” he insists.
-How you do that?
—When I run, I carry the refugees in my thoughts and in my heart. And they push me.
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