Refugee athlete to make history for second time at Youth Olympics

**Refugee athlete to make history for second time at Youth Olympics**

Yiech Pur Biel (left) is leading the first ever refugee team at the Youth Olympics

When Yiech Pur Biel first began running, he had to do so barefoot. Far from his home and in a new country, it marked the first step in rebuilding his life as a refugee.

"That's when I decided now it is time to depend on myself and also to start a new life with determination," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

In 2016, Biel made history when he competed in the 800m as part of the first Olympic refugee team at the Rio summer Olympics in Brazil.

Ten years later, he is making history once more by leading the first refugee team at the Youth Olympics as their Chef de Mission.

Among nearly 3,000 athletes, the small group of six will be hoping their debut leaves a mark - but Biel says they also want to deliver a message that "refugees still need our help".

The event is being hosted in Senegal, and Saturday's opening ceremony will begin the first ever Olympic sporting event held on African soil.

Africa is home to nearly 45 million displaced people, out of almost 120 million worldwide, making it the site of the world's biggest displacement crisis.

For the refugee team, Biel says the Youth Olympics is "a chance for them to tell the world and also to represent the population, especially the refugee population, in Africa".

"It's about representing the hope of young people who are living in a refugee camp, who have lost their motivation or their talent."

Biel competed in the first ever refugee team in Rio 2016 and says his new role is an honour

Biel was still a child when he was forced to leave his home in South Sudan after his village was attacked.

He ended up in Kenya, where he told BBC Newsbeat: "It traumatised me, starting a new life, being alone in Kakuma," referring to the major refugee settlement near the border between Kenya and South Sudan.

"But I started a new life, I believe that school helped me a lot. It helped me to interact with young people who faced the same challenges."

He spent the rest of his childhood in the refugee camp, where he developed an interest in football.

After deciding it was not the right sport for him, he tried running during trials organised by the International Olympic Committee - racing without shoes.

That experience made him "believe that if I can work harder by myself, I can achieve", he says.

Arno Yafunga Botay is one of six athletes competing for the Refugee Olympic Team at the Dakar 2026 Youth Games

One of the refugee team athletes, Arno Yafunga Botay, also lived in Kakuma after fleeing his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017, when he was six.

Now 15, he will compete in judo and told BBC Sport Africa he has promised to win a gold medal, which he would like to take back to the refugee camp.

"I think if I achieve [a] gold medal, I can go there and teach them the value of judo," he said.

As for Biel, he says being selected as the team's Chef de Mission is an honour.

"This is so important for them, to learn from my experience as an athlete and also as a refugee who is coming from a refugee camp," he says.

"So this role means a lot to me and also means a lot to those young athletes who are going to compete."

Competition at Dakar 2026 begins later, with the opening ceremony on Saturday.