At 15, Arno Yafunga Botay will step onto the judo mat in Dakar carrying more than his hopes for a medal: he will represent refugees at the first Youth Games to include a Refugee Olympic Team.
Yafunga Botay’s family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017, after threats against his father, Arnold, ended in an attack on their home. Arnold was away in detention when the attack happened. The family’s seven-month-old child was killed. After spending time in Kakuma refugee camp in north-west Kenya, they settled in Nairobi.
There, young Arno watched his father practise judo and asked him to teach him. The sport became part of family life. Arnold still coaches him, and his older brother Christian, now 17, sometimes trains with him as a sparring partner. Arno has trained at a judo club in the Kenyan capital since 2020. He earned his place on the Refugee Olympic Team through trials in East Africa and will compete in the under-55-kilogram category at Dakar 2026.
“I didn’t expect to be selected,” he told BBC Sport Africa. “I was so excited. I was crying tears of joy.” The team has six athletes and is being mentored by Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan runner who has won two Olympic marathon titles. Yafunga Botay says Kipchoge urges the athletes to respect their coaches and stay focused. He has promised his mentor he will bring back gold.
The Refugee Olympic Team first competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At Paris 2024, Cameroon-born boxer Cindy Ngamba won its first medal, taking bronze in the women’s 75-kilogram event. Dakar marks another first: the team’s debut at a Youth Games, held in Senegal. It is also the first Olympic event hosted on African soil.
For Yafunga Botay, the chance to compete is a way to speak for people who have been forced from home. “As a refugee, we have a right to compete,” he said. “A refugee is a human being like other people.” His father sees the team’s presence as a message to displaced people that their lives and ambitions can continue. “Being a refugee does not mean your life is over,” Arnold said. “My message to fellow refugees is don’t give up. Keep pushing until the end.”
Judo has also made a difference in the family’s wider community. Lawrence Karisa Nyundo, who owns the Nairobi dojo where Arno trains, said the teenager’s selection had changed how some local parents view the sport. Judo, he said, is not only about fighting; parents have begun calling to ask about enrolling their children. Arnold says training teaches his son discipline, respect and how to interact with others. It also asks him to maintain his weight and train consistently.
The judo events run from 1 to 3 November, with the Dakar Games opening ceremony a day after competition begins on Friday. After the Games, Yafunga Botay hopes to share what he has learned with young athletes in Kakuma, where he says there are good judokas. A medal could help him bring the sport—and the possibility it represents—to them.