Until about a year ago, South Sudanese refugee Rose Nathike Lokonyen used to run barefoot through the refugee camp she called home. This August in Rio de Janeiro, she will form part of the first Olympic refugee team in history, running in the 800m. Her objectives are very clear.

“My dream, my first priority, is to help my parents and my siblings and then after that to help my fellow refugees,” she says.

Lokonyen was just 10 years old when she and her family had to flee their home (Photo: IOC)

When Lokonyen was 10, she and her family fled from southern Sudan to escape the outbreak of conflict and violence, part of a mass exodus that has been going on for decades. Now 23, Lokonyen has spent the years since then in the giant Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, home to about 180,000 displaced people. 

“If my parents had not brought us here to Kenya we could have died,” she says. Lokonyen’s parents returned home in 2008 but decided to leave her and her siblings in Kakuma. It was then that she discovered her love for running.

“I started running when I was in high school. I love running and now it is my career." 

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Although Lokonyen has been running for several years, it was only when the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation held scouting trials in the camp in 2015 that she realised just how good she was.

“It was just a competition, we competed among the refugees. Some of us were running without shoes, like me, I was running barefoot. We ran 10km and I became the number two.”

Lokonyen was selected to join the foundation and today she trains with former marathon world record holder Tegla Loroupe in Nairobi. She is preparing to represent the Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016, training alongside four other South Sudanese runners.

The members of the first Olympic refugee team, which also includes two swimmers from Syria, two Congolese judokas and an Ethiopian marathon runner, were announced earlier this month as a response to the worldwide refugee crisis.

“This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis,” IOC president Thomas Bach said when the team was announced on 3 June.

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“It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society. These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit."

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Lokonyen now trains with former marathon world champion Tegla Loroupe in Nairobi (Photo: IOC)

While Lokonyen is currently training hard to perform to her very best at Rio 2016, she is already thinking about how she can use her platform as an Olympian to change the lives of others.

“I will be very happy to hold that refugee flag because this is where I started my life. I will be representing my people in Rio.  Maybe if I succeed, I can come back and conduct a race that can promote peace and bring people together.”

Rio2016.com is profiling each of the 10 athletes in the Olympic refugee team. Also see:

Syrian swimmer Rami Anis’s journey from Aleppo to the Rio 2016 Games

Yiech Pur Biel, the ‘Lost Boy’ who found a sense of belonging in athletics

James Chiengjiek’s escape from the clutches of war to Rio 2016

Prolific marathon runner Yonas Kinde finally able to compete at Olympic Games

Anjelina Nadai Lohalith hopes Rio 2016 success will reunite her with parents