Paris 2024 Olympics athletics: Refugee middle-distance runner Perina Lokure Nakang clocks 800m PB on Games debut
Picture by 2024 Getty Images
Perina Lokure Nakang formed a heart shape with her hands above her head as she was introduced before her first-ever Olympic race at Paris 2024 on Friday (2 August).
With each step Nakang took on the purple athletics track at Stade de France, she added to the triumphs in her relatively short running career. The refugee athlete made her Olympic debut in the women’s 800 metres lining up against British star Keely Hodgkinson.
"I am so happy to have run at the Olympics today it was my dream. The plan here was to run my personal best and I did it," Nakang told Olympics.com after the race.
"I ran a 2:08, so now the plan is to go back and train hard for the next championships. I know a lot of people were watching me here and back home, and cheering for me and my fellow refugee athletes. So I know I continue to inspire."
Nakang stayed with the group going through the bell before she fell behind with 300m to go with Hodgkinson leading the charge.
The 21-year-old Nakang raced home in ninth place in a time of two minutes, 08.20 seconds (2:08.20), chopping more than four seconds off her previous best.
Nakang had already had a taste of international athletics action at the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships. In that race, Nakang also lined up against Hodgkinson crossing the finish in a time of 2:15.84, nearly two seconds slower than her then-personal best.
“It was amazing running with some of the best in the 800m. They are Olympic and world champions and have many medals. And here I am just starting out, yet sharing a stage with them,” Nakang told Olympics.com last year.
“It inspired me to keep doing what I am doing, train harder and keep improving.”
Under the watchful eye of two-time world 800m champion Janeth Jepkosgei, Nakang has made some serious strides over the last season.
She clocked a lifetime best of 2:12.74 in the two-lap final at the Kenyan National Trials where she finished in a credible seventh place.
Nakang, who fled war-torn South Sudan to Kenya with her aunt, has found comfort in sports in the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
After trying various other sports, Nakang gravitated towards running first starting as a sprinter before discovering her talents as a middle-distance athlete.
When Jepkosgei began working with young athletes at the Kakuma camp, Nakang was identified as a potential prospect.
The investment in Nakang has already paid dividends with Lokure making impressive improvements in her pet 800m event. Nakang will have another shot at reaching the semi-finals at the Paris 2024, thanks to the introduction of the repechage round at these Games which will be contested on Saturday.
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