KENYA / REFUGEES ATHLETES

Five refugee athletes will be competing for the first time in history at the World Athletics Championship starting Friday (4 Aug) in London. They have been working hard, training with Kenya’s elite national team and renowned athletes like world record holder David Rudisha. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:44
• Production Date: 3 August 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; SPORTS
• MAMS Id: 1944177
• Parent Id: 1944177
• Alternate Title: unifeed170803c

Description

STORY: KENYA / REFUGEES ATHLETES
TRT: 2:44
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /SWAHILI /NATS

DATELINE: 24-26 JULY 2017, NAIROBI, KENYA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, refugee athletes training in stadium
2. Med shot, refugee athletes training
3. Wide shot, refugee athletes working with coach Anzara
4. Wide shot, refugee athletes training on track
5. Med shot, Farah, Somali Refugee athlete
6. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Ahmed Bashir Farah, Somali Refugee:
“You know this is my first big international race so it’s normal, you have to feel a little nervous and scared but once you are on the field, the fear leaves you.”
7. Wide shot, refugee athletes training
8. Wide shot, refugee athletes running in stadium
9. Wide shot, Bashir running with Kenyan world record holder, David Rudisha
10. Med shot, Rudisha jogging
11. Med shot, Rudisha stretching
12. Wide shot, refugee athletes seated on pitch
13. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Ahmed Bashir Farah, Somali Refugee:
“You know when you are training with a champion, with a record holder, you gain morale. You start to see yourself in the same way. So when you go to race, the other athletes don’t intimidate you because you were training with someone like Rudisha. You are not scared of the other competitors. You do your best.”
14. Med shot, Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, South Sudanese refugee
15. Med shot, Anjelina walking with Rose Nathike, South Sudanese Refugee and Emily Cherotich, Kenya National Team
16. Med shot, Anjelina, Rose and Cherotich jogging
17. Wide shot, Anjelina, Rose and Cherotich running
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, South Sudanese Refugee:
”I see myself competing one day one time in a higher level. Right now I am participating with the champions and now this is my time I have to polish my talent and to show people in the world that a refugee can make it.”
19. Wide shot, Kadar Omar, Ethiopian Refugee running
20. Wide shot, Dominic Lobalu, South Sudanese refugee running
21. Wide shot, Rose sprinting
22. Wide shot, refugee athletes running with coach Anzara
23. Wide shot, refugee athletes training
24. Med shot, Kadar talking to coach Anzara
25. Med shot, coach Anzara walking
26. Wide shot, coach Anzara talking to refugee athletes
27. SOUNDBITE (English) John Anzara, Coach:
“We have gone through paces. We have trained well. As far as I am concerned the team is ready and we are only waiting for the gun.”
28. Wide shot, athletes running in coffee plantation

Storyline

Five refugee athletes will be competing for the first time in history at the World Athletics Championship starting Friday (4 Aug) in London. They have been working hard, training with Kenya’s elite national team and renowned athletes like world record holder David Rudisha.

World Athletics Championships is a biennial athletics event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) starting in 1983.

19-year-old Ahmed Bashir Farah, a refugee from Somalia, will be competing in the 800 meters.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Ahmed Bashir Farah, Somali Refugee:
“You know this is my first big international race so it’s normal, you have to feel a little nervous and scared but once you are on the field, the fear leaves you.”

Ahmed and the four other refugees heading to London, have also had the rare opportunity to train with Kenya’s national athletes in the buildup to the championships - including the 800 metres World Record holder and Olympic Champion, David Rudisha.

Rudisha has just announced he will not be competing in London because of a muscle strain.

But Ahmed says training with Kenya’s world champions has boosted the confidence of the refugee team.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Ahmed Bashir Farah, Somali Refugee:
“You know when you are training with a champion, with a record holder, you gain morale. You start to see yourself in the same way. So when you go to race, the other athletes don’t intimidate you because you were training with someone like Rudisha. You are not scared of the other competitors. You do your best.”

23-year-old Anjelina Lohalith, from South Sudan will be running in the 1500 meters.

She’s a little less nervous than Bashir, because this is not the first time she’s performed on the world sporting stage.

Anjelina ran in the Rio Olympics in 2016, the first time that refugees were permitted to participate in the history of the Games.

SOUNDBITE (English) Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, South Sudanese Refugee:
”I see myself competing one day one time in a higher level. Right now I am participating with the champions and now this is my time I have to polish my talent and to show people in the world that a refugee can make it.”

The rest of the refugee team includes Kadar Omar, who will run in the 5000 meters, as well as Dominic Lobalu and Rose Lokonyen running in the 1,500 and 800 meters.

Coach John Anzara, says he is confident the athletes will do well in London.

SOUNDBITE (English) John Anzara, Coach:
“We have gone through paces. We have trained well. As far as I am concerned the team is ready and we are only waiting for the gun.”

The athletes who will be competing under the Athletics Refugee Team were selected for the London championships after trials organized by the Tegla Loroupe Foundation.