NOC-K President Paul Tergat

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) President Paul Tergat has reiterated his commitment towards leveraging sport to protect and support inclusivity in a bid to give every athlete an opportunity to play and excel at the top level of sports.

Last year in March,Tergat the former five time world cross country champion was appointed as a Board Member of the Olympic Refugee Foundation for a period of four years and hailed the move as a positive step for Kenya whose athletes continue to market the Africa all over the world.

He was speaking on Tuesday after receiving Pamela Vipond, the deputy director of Olympic Solidarity together with Gonzalo Barrio, Refugee Athlete Programmes Manager to explore collaboration opportunities in the olympic movement program.

"The Olympic Refugee athletes have become a very significant component of the Olympic Movement through the Olympic Refuge Foundation to enhance inclusion and giving every athlete an opportunity to play and excel at the top level of sport" he tweeted. 

Having served as a goodwill Ambassador against Hunger for World Food Program (WFP),Tergat understands the plight of displaced persons and the devastation that come with it.

During Tokyo Olympics in Japan,IAAF Ambassador and Kenya’s former marathon world record-holder Tegla Loroupe was  the Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team that  participated at the rescheduled summer games due to covid-19 pandemic.

The 48 year old has continued to use her peaceable initiatives and sport to ease conflicts from running races among West Pokot tribes to edge tensions between warring factions.

The Olympic Refugee Foundation was created in 2017 by the IOC and it has since coordinated 11 programmes in seven countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Rwanda, Turkey and Uganda).

The Foundation seeks to shape a movement for displaced young people to thrive through sport and it currently enjoys the support of a number of partners worldwide.