「Peace, unity through sports,」 a woman from Kenya (肯亞) wrote on a mural at the Olympic Village in Rio。 The barely five-foot-tall woman managed to give an Olympic home to athletes who had none of their own。 She was Tegla Loroupe (泰格拉•洛魯普), the leader of a group of ten displaced athletes, known as the Refugee Olympic Team (難民代表團)。
Perhaps no one represents hopefulness in international sport more resolutely than Loroupe。 In the running world, she was celebrated as the winner of the New York City Marathon in 1994 and 1995, the first woman from Africa to win a major marathon, a former world-record holder at the distance of 42.195 km。
However, Loroupe』s running has been overtaken by her goodwill and activism。 Under the banner of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, she has organized peace races among tribal rivals (敵對部落), trying to settle conflicts with conciliation (調解) instead of weapons。
In 2014, Thomas Bach (托馬斯•巴赫), president of the International Olympic Committee (國際奧委會), presented Loroupe with an idea of entering a refugee team in the Rio Olympics。 She said, 「I think I have the strength to prove that even small people can do something big。」
As a result, five of the refugee Olympic athletes prepared for the Rio Games at a training camp operated by Loroupe in the hills outside Nairobi (內羅畢), the Kenyan capital。 Yiech Pur Biel, an 800-meter runner who escaped from South Sudan (南蘇丹), said, 「Madam Tegla is our mother as well as our leader。 Most of us run because of war。 Madam Tegla gives us a chance for other people to know the history of our lives。 And we can forget what happened before。 We can celebrate。 We can have hope, like everyone else。」
On August 5, the refugee Olympians marched in the opening ceremony, carrying the Olympic flag, serenaded by the Olympic anthem (會歌)。 Thanks to Loroupe, they did not disappoint us even though they did not win gold medals。