Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Four track and field athletes—Clement Niyomuhoza, Florence Masumbe, Nyataba Gatloth, and Rachid Rochene—have been named to the Refugee Olympic Team for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal. This will be the first Refugee Olympic Team to participate in a Youth Olympic Games.
Niyomuhoza and Gatloth, hosted by Kenya's National Olympic Committee (NOC), will compete in the boys’ and girls’ 800m races, respectively. Masumbe and Rochene, hosted by Uganda's NOC, will contest the girls’ and boys’ 200m events. The team also includes one athlete each in judo and taekwondo.
The team was presented during the 146th IOC Session by Yiech Pur Biel, Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team for Dakar 2026. Biel, who ran the 800m for the Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, highlighted the opportunity for these athletes to serve as ambassadors for young refugees worldwide.
Biel, originally from South Sudan and a former refugee in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, is now an IOC Member and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. He noted that sport has changed his life, opening doors and helping him inspire other refugees.
Several athletes were selected through trials in Kenya and Uganda. In Uganda, which hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum seekers, selections were made through Game Connect, an Olympic Refuge Foundation community program. This is the first direct link between the Foundation’s community work and elite athlete pathways through the Refugee Athlete Support programme, funded by Olympic Solidarity.
According to World Athletics, commitments have been made to support refugee athletes with competition and training opportunities, media preparation, and safeguarding, with special focus on the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.