Refugee athlete to make history for second time at Youth Olympics

Published1 hour ago

When he started running, Yiech Pur Biel had to compete barefoot. Far from home in a new country, it was the first step towards rebuilding his life as a refugee.

"That's when I decided now it is time to depend on myself and also to start a new life with determination," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

In 2016, Biel made history competing in the 800m event as part of the first Olympic refugee team at the Rio summer Olympics in Brazil.

Ten years on, he's making history again leading the first refugee team for the Youth Olympics as their Chef de Mission.

Joining almost 3,000 athletes, the small team of six will be wanting to make sure their debut counts - but Biel says they're also hoping to send a message that "refugees still need our help".

Hosted in Senegal, Saturday's opening ceremony will launch the first ever Olympic sporting event on African soil.

Africa is home to nearly 45 million displaced people, out of almost 120 million globally, representing the world's biggest displacement crisis.

Biel says for the refugee team, the Youth Olympics is "a chance for them to tell the world and also to represent the population, especially the refugee population, in Africa".

"It's about representing the hope of young people who are living in a refugee camp, who have lost their motivation or their talent."

Biel was a child when he was forced to flee his home in South Sudan after his village was attacked.

He ended up in Kenya, telling BBC Newsbeat: "It traumatised me, starting a new life, being alone in Kakuma," referring to the major refugee settlement close to the border between Kenya and South Sudan.

"But I started a new life, I believe that school helped me a lot. It helped me to interact with young people who faced the same challenges."

The rest of his childhood was spent on the refugee camp where he took an interest in football.

After realising it wasn't the sport for him, he gave running a go during trials set up by the International Olympic Committee - where he raced without shoes.

It made him "believe that if I can work harder by myself, I can achieve", he says.

One of the athletes on the refugee team, Arno Yafunga Botay, also lived at Kakuma after fleeing his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017, when he was six.

Now 15, he will be competing in judo and told BBC Sport Africa he's promised to bring back a gold medal which he'd like to take to the refugee camp.

"I think if I achieve [a] gold medal, I can go there and teach them the value of judo," he said.

As for Biel, he says it's an honour to be chosen as the team's Chef de Mission.

"This is so important for them, to learn from my experience as an athlete and also as a refugee who is coming from a refugee camp," he says.

"So this role means a lot to me and also means a lot to those young athletes who are going to compete."

Competition at Dakar 2026 begins later, with the opening ceremony on Saturday.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Related topics

Dakar

Senegal

Kenya

South Sudan