Thirty-seven refugee athletes from eleven different countries, hosted by fifteen National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are competing across a dozen sports at the Paris Olympics.

The IOC Refugee Olympic Team was announced at a recent ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Appearing at the Olympic Games for the third time, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team will represent the 114 million people displaced people around the world.

They will compete in 12 different sports, ranging from aquatics, athletics, badminton and boxing to taekwondo and wrestling.

One of the youngest refugee Olympians and the only one from Africa is Perina.

The 21-year-old will compete in the 800-metre race as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.

“I am very happy. God has helped me get this far,” she said.

“I never imagined I would make it to the Olympics. When I finish and I win my race, I will call my mother and tell her ‘Mum, I made it’.”

Perina was only 7 years old when her family fled war and found safety in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. It was here that she discovered her love for sports, albeit unintentionally.

She first started playing football and basketball, which she enjoyed, but her friend encouraged her to switch to running.

“I had a friend who liked running and I used to wonder how long she would keep running. I thought it would take her nowhere; it was like chasing the wind,” she said.

Nevertheless, she decided to join her friend and they began running together in the camps. She reached a turning point in 2022 when she came second in a women’s 100-metre race in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, which was organized by Athletics Kenya.

“Running has changed the lives of many athletes, so I decided to pursue it seriously,” she said.

Her athletic career was boosted when she won a scholarship to attend the Shoe 4AfricaLink is external secondary school in Kapsabet town, in the west of the country, which was founded by Kenyan long-distance runner and world record holder Mary Keitany. She is currently pursuing her secondary education there.

Away from the scorching sun of Kakuma, Perina enjoyed a perfect high-altitude environment in Eldoret to train for Paris. Every morning at five o’clock she trained alongside other stellar Kenyan athletes for up to 20 kilometres, greatly improving her speed and endurance.

Perina’s coach Janeth Jepkosgei, a Kenyan former Olympic world champion, says he has been preparing physically and mentally.

“Perina has been working hard, going from a time of 02:29 to a personal best of 02:12 at the national trials,” he said.

Janeth is hopeful that Perina will shine in Paris and that she will improve significantly on her time – perhaps even surpassing her personal record.

Perina hopes to inspire other young refugee athletes to chase their dreams.

“I would like to tell my fellow youth in the camp that life is about working hard,” she said. “You will gain nothing by sitting at home. It’s better to go out and work hard. I want to be a champion like world champions Mary Moraa and Faith Kipyegon. I aspire to be like them.

“My goal is to win at least six gold medals,” she added. “After that, I can retire and mentor aspiring athletes to become like me.”

Her message to the world and everyone watching this year’s Olympic Games is to put themselves in the shoes of refugees.

“Refugees are like you,” she said. “They study and they have talent.”

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, partners with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Refuge Foundation to support refugees’ participation in the Games and to promote the power of sports to bring hope to the lives of those forced to flee.