Six refugee athletes make Youth Olympic history as Dakar hosts Africa’s first Games

The six athletes will join around 2,700 young competitors from across the world, carrying the hopes of young refugees whose lives have been disrupted by conflict and displacement.

Six young refugee athletes are making history at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games as the first Refugee Olympic Team to take part in the youth competition. The team includes three young women and three young men, all based in Africa, who will compete in athletics, judo and taekwondo. Running from 31 October to 13 November in Senegal, the Games mark the first Olympic event held on the African continent.

The six athletes will join around 2,700 young competitors from across the world, carrying the hopes of young refugees whose lives have been disrupted by conflict and displacement. Their participation comes a decade after the first Refugee Olympic Team competed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, opening a path that another generation is now following. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomed the milestone as a reminder that access to sport can help young people rebuild their lives and discover opportunities after being forced to leave home.

For UNHCR, the importance of the team reaches beyond competition, with sport offering young refugees a sense of belonging and space to recover from difficult experiences. Edem Wosornu, the agency's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, is attending the opening in Dakar and described the Games as a source of pride for Africa and people forced to flee. She said the athletes demonstrate what refugees can achieve when given a chance, calling for opportunities to learn, compete and thrive to continue after the Games close.

An Olympic trailblazer leads the next generation

The team is led by Chef de Mission Yiech Pur Biel, a refugee from South Sudan and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador who competed with the first Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016. Biel described seeing young refugees follow the same path ten years later as deeply special, recognising the enormous challenges they had overcome to reach Dakar. He said their participation carries a message beyond the pursuit of medals, showing other young refugees that their backgrounds and experiences do not have to place limits on their dreams.

Support brings young athletes onto the world stage

The International Olympic Committee created the team, which is managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation with support from World Athletics, the National Olympic Committees of Kenya and Uganda, and UNHCR. The athletes are receiving mentoring from two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, giving them guidance from one of the sport's most accomplished competitors. That network of support reflects the importance of giving displaced young people access to training, encouragement and opportunities to compete on an international stage.

A call for opportunities beyond Dakar

The team's participation comes as more than 117 million people remain forcibly displaced worldwide, including 39 million in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly a third of displaced people are refugees and asylum-seekers. Around half of those displaced on the continent are children, adding urgency to calls for education, sport and opportunities that help young people build their futures. UNHCR is urging governments, sports bodies, businesses and donors to expand that access so the talent and ambition represented in Dakar can continue to develop after the Games end.