 Anjelina Lohalith arrives in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| National team | Refugee Olympic Team |
| Born | January 1, 1993 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | 1500m |
| Updated on 16 September 2016. | |
Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (born 1993, credited as January 1) [1] is a track and field athlete originally from South Sudan, but now living and training in Kenya. She competed as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Lohalith was born in South Sudan. She and her family slept in the brush to avoid being found during raids. [2] 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. [2] [3] She was separated from her parents as her parents sent her to Kenya for safety. [2] [3] 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. [3]
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 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. [4] who has been selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team in the women's 1500 m at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [3] Lohalith placed 40th out of 41 runners in Round 1 of the event with a time of 4:47.38. She did not advance. [5]
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. [4]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Refugee Athletes | |||||
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 40th (h) | 1500 m | 4:47.38 |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 43rd (h) | 1500 m | 4:33.54 |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 14th (h) | 1500 m | 4:31.65 |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 19th (h) | 1500 m | 4:34.72 |
| African Championships | Port Louis, Mauritius | 16th (h) | 800 m | 2:19.29 | |
| 10th | 1500 m | 4:33.74 | |||
| World Championships | Eugene, United States | 42nd (h) | 1500 m | 4:23.84 | |
| 2023 | World Cross Country Championships | Bathurst, Australia | 13th | 4 x 2 km mixed relay XC | 27:15 |
| World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 32nd (h) | 5000 m | 15:35.25 | |
| 2024 | World Cross Country Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 23rd | 10km XC | 33:26 |
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe 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 held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome.
Kakuma is a town in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp, established in 1992. The population of Kakuma town was 60,000 in 2014, having grown from around 8,000 in 1990. In 1991, the camp was established to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan,Somalia and from camps in Ethiopia. It was estimated that there were 12,000 "lost boys and girls" who had fled here via Egypt in 1990/91.
The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005). Two million were killed and others were severely affected by the conflict. The term was used by healthcare workers in the refugee camps and may have been derived from the children's story of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. The term was also extended to refer to children who fled the post-independence violence in South Sudan in 2011–2013.
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Kakuma Refugee Camp is a refugee camp located in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It was established in 1992 to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan and from camps in Ethiopia. The camp is situated in the second poorest region in Kenya and as a result of this poverty, there are ongoing tensions between the refugees and the local community that has occasionally resulted in violence.
