Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (born 1993, credited as January 1) is a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete originally from

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

, but now living and training in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. She competed as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Lohalith was born in South Sudan. She and her family slept in the brush to avoid being found during raids. In 2001 when Lohalith was eight years old she had to leave her home when her country was gripped by civil war and violence closed in on her village with landmines being found near her home. She was separated from her parents as her parents sent her to Kenya for safety. She arrived in northern Kenya in 2002, settling in the Kakuma refugee camp. The Kakuma refugee camp is one of the largest refugee camps in the world with over 179,000 people. While attending primary school in the camp she took up running.

Career

Despite winning various school competitions, it was only when professional coaches came to Kakuma to hold selection trials for a special training camp, that she discovered just how good she was. Lohalith was selected to train under Olympic champion marathon runner

Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 December 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously ...

at her sports foundation in Nairobi. Here, the 1500m runner trains with four other runners from South Sudan who will participate in the Olympic refugee team at Rio 2016. who has been selected by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team in the women's

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil. Lohalith placed 40th out of 41 runners in Round 1 of the event with a time of 4:47.38. She did not advance. Lohalith hopes that through her success in running she will be able to help her parents who she has not seen since she was 8 years old.

Competitions

References

External links

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Article about Lohalith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohalith, Anjelina South Sudanese refugees Place of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics South Sudanese expatriate sportspeople in Kenya 1993 births Living people South Sudanese female middle-distance runners Athlete Refugee Team at the World Athletics Championships