Yiech Biel

Yiech Pur Biel (born 1 January 1995)[1] is a track and field athlete and UNHCR goodwill ambassador originally from Nasir, South Sudan, but now living and training in the United States. He was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team in the 800 m event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[4] He placed last in his heat.[1]

Yiech Biel
Biel at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
NationalitySouth Sudanese
Born (1995-01-01) January 1, 1995
EducationIowa Central Community College Drake University
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)800 1600 5k 10k
ClubTegla Loroupe Foundation[2] ICCC XC AND TRACK‘20
Coached byTegla Loroupe[2]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1:54.67 (2016)[3]

In 2005 he fled from his home town of Nasir in Sudan to escape a civil war. After living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp[5] for 10 years, he started running competitively in 2015. The Kakuma refugee camp is one of the largest refugee camps in the world with over 179,000 people. According to Biel there were no facilities, he even didn't have shoes and not a gym. Also the weather does not favour training because from morning until evening it is sunny and hot. In 2015 he was selected to join the Tegla Loroupe Foundation, that holds athletic trials in Kakuma. There he trained under Tegla Loroupe in Nairobi, along with four other middle-distance runners from South Sudan selected for the Olympic refugee team within a joint initiative by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).[6]

Since competing at Rio, Pur has travelled to 26 countries as an athlete and advocate for refugees, speaking at events in New York and Paris and returning to Kakuma to deliver a TEDx speech. He joined the Olympic Refugee Foundation as a board member upon its founding in 2017. On behalf of the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team, Pur and fellow Refugee Olympian Yusra Mardini received the International Crisis Group (ICG)’s Stephen J. Solarz Award. In August 2020, Pur was selected to be a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR.[7][8] At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Pur served as manager of the Refugee Olympic Team. In February 2022 he was elected to serve an eight year term as a member of the International Olympic Committee, becoming the first UNHCR-recognised refugee to be elected to the body.[9]

Competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing Refugee Athletes
2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 8th (h) 800 m 1:54.67
2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 5th (s) 800 m 1:56.53
2018 African Championships Asaba, Nigeria 31st (h) 800 m 1:53.20

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yiech Pur Biel.
  1. "Yiech Pur Biel". rio2016.com. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  2. Yiech Biel. nbcolympics.com
  3. Yiech Biel at World Athletics
  4. "Refugee Olympic Team" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  5. "U.N. expands refugee camp in Kenya as South Sudan conflict rages". 20 June 2015 – via Reuters.
  6. "Olympic refugee team: Yiech Pur Biel, the 'Lost Boy' who found a sense of belonging in athletics". Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  7. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Yiech Pur Biel". UNHCR. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. "New UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Pur to help refugees "thrive" not just "survive" - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  9. "IOC Session elects five new Members". olympics.com. 19 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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