Yiech Pur Biel

SSD

Role

Track & Field Olympian, Refugee Olympic Team & Board Member, Olympic Refuge Foundation

Yiech Pur Biel is a South Sudanese track and field athlete who was part of the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT) at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Biel additionally took part in the fifth Asian Indoor Games, which were held in Turkmenistan in 2017. He currently serves as a Board member of the Olympic Refuge Foundation, and he has attended and taken part in multiple high-profile international forums and conferences.

Looking to the future, Biel aims to continue running and to pursue a career in international relations. He believes in the intimate connection between education and talent, and wants to create a legacy by working as a top athlete around the world and encouraging fellow refugee young athletes to pursue their goals. After being awarded the UNHCR’s DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship, Biel is pursuing a certificate course in business at the Kenya Institute of Management.

The speakers

Using the unique power of sport to bring people together, the Olympism in Action Forum saw a range of global players, including Olympic Movement stakeholders, athletes, private and public sector leaders, NGO representatives, academics, artists and the media come together to talk on topical contemporary issues. Chosen because of their ability to effect change and their wide range of sometimes differing opinions, the speakers led lively debates and seeked to challenge received wisdom to inspire new ways of thinking.