Cyrille TCHATCHET II

Cyrille arrived in the UK from Cameroon in 2014 and claimed asylum. Whilst waiting for his asylum application to be assessed, he experienced some difficult moments and says weightlifting saved him. He was granted refugee status a few years later and started to rebuild his life in the UK. 

Cyrille was granted a Refugee Athlete Scholarship by the International Olympic Committee, which supported his training and enabled him to train and compete. He represented the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020, obtaining 10th place in his weightlifting event. He holds multiple British and English weightlifting records and won Gold for Team England at the 2023 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Delhi, India. 

Cyrille currently works as a community psychiatric nurse in the British National Health Service. He sees caring for others as a way of giving back to the community that supported him during his low moments and uses his experience to motivate refugees around the world.