TOP 10 FINISH FOR REFUGEE ATHLETE AT KISII CROSS COUNTRY MEET Dominic Lokinyomo, a 20 year old refugee athlete

TOP 10 FINISH FOR REFUGEE ATHLETE AT KISII CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Dominic Lokinyomo, a 20 year old refugee athlete under the UNHCR/ Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation athletics project stunned competitors and spectators when he gave a very good account of himself to emerge position 8 out of a strong field of 82 seasoned Kenyan athletes during the 4th Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series and Anti-Doping Awareness at the Kisii Sports Club on Saturday, 11 January 2019.

Dominic (shirt number 485) who had stayed in the pack of 8 athletes until the final bend only to be denied victory, or at the very least a podium finish, by the usual last minute push and shove, posted a time of 29 mins 30.6 secs which was a massive improvement from his Kapsokwony time of 32:54.9.  

UNHCR/ TLPF entered 10 athletes for the Cross Country Series in Kisii. The Series which was sponsored by the Kisii County Government saw athletes travel from across the country to compete before the national championship slated for Eldoret in February. The national championships will be used to select the team to represent Kenya at the World Cross Country Championship in Aarhus, Denmark, in March 2019. 

The Kisii Series had four categories: 6KM Junior Women8KM Junior Men10KM Senior Women10KM Senior Men

Our athletes competed in the Senior Men category. ‘I am going back to even more serious training in Ngong and I will work with my coaches to refine my skill,’ said Dominic. 

Speaking at the same event, Mr. Julius Kirwa, the national coach for Team Kenya, said that he was very encouraged by the progress being made by the refugee athletes. ‘The future is very bright for them,’ he added.

‘Our results continue to encourage us that there will be a medal from the refugee team soon,’ concluded Pur Biel, Team Refugees captain. Team Refugees scored a combined tally of 102 points. Many thanks to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other donors for continuing to support refugee athletes.