Two Kenyan-based athletes named in Refugee team for Youth Olympic Games
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 04.07.26. | 13:20
The duo will both compete in the 800m event later this year in Senegal's capital
Two track and field athletes hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya have been named on the Refugee Olympic Team that will compete at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
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Clement Niyomuhoza and Nyataba Gatloth are a pair of four athletes that have named as part of the first Refugee Olympic Team to compete at a Youth Olympic Games.
The games, which will be held in Senegal, are scheduled for 31 October to 13 November.
In the event, which is a first for Africa, Niyomuhoza will compete in the boys’ 800m, while Gatloth will contest the girls’ 800m.
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Joining them on the Refugee team will be the duo of Florence Masumbe and Rachid Rochene, who are hosted by the Ugandan National Olympics Committee, and will compete in the girls’ and boys’ 200m respectively.
The team was presented by Yiech Pur Biel, Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team for Dakar 2026, during the recent 146th IOC Session.
“These young people have an opportunity to be great ambassadors and represent the millions of young refugees across the world,” said Biel. “I really believe that Dakar will be a life-changing moment for them, but also for refugees watching them worldwide.”
Biel knows that pathway well. Originally from South Sudan, he spent much of his youth in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, before going on to compete in the 800m for the first Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
He has since been elected as an IOC Member, become a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, and sits on the Board of the Olympic Refuge Foundation.
“It has been 10 years since I competed at the Rio Olympic Games as a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team,” Biel added. “Since then, sport has truly changed my life. Sport has opened doors for me, and it has also allowed me to change the lives of other refugees – to be a role model for them and hopefully leave a legacy of inspiring others.”
The Dakar 2026 Refugee Olympic Team will be made up of athletes based in Africa and hosted by the NOCs of Kenya and Uganda.
Alongside the four track and field athletes, two other team members – one in judo and one in taekwondo – will also compete in Dakar.
Additional reporting by World Athletics.