A six-strong Athlete Refugee Team (ART) competed at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, concluding the team’s fifth straight appearance at these global championships where they represented a community of more than 120 million displaced persons from around the world.
Omar Hassan and Emmanuel Ntagunga kicked things off for the ART in men’s marathon on Monday (15). Running in brutally hot and humid conditions, Ntagunga finished 39th in 2:19:11 and Hassan 41st in 2:19:47. Hassan finished 40th at the World Championships two years ago while Ntagunga represented ART for the first time.
Emmanuel Ntagunga in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (© World Athletics 
Dan Vernon)
Hassan, who fled his native Ethiopia and is now based in Denmark, has a 2:12:29 career best set in 2022. Ntagunga, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has a 2:17:48 personal best set this year in Copenhagen. He is based in Norway.
Perina Lokure Nakang and Musa Suliman, both 2024 Olympians as part of the IOC’s Olympic Refugee Team, competed in the 800m in Tokyo. Suliman, at 21 the youngest member of the team, clocked a 1:48.28 season’s best in Tuesday’s (16) opening round heats, just 0.22 shy of his personal best set in Paris last year. Nakang, a native of South Sudan, clocked 2:10.13 in her heat on Thursday (18), a season’s best. Suliman, a native of Sudan, is based in Switzerland.
Musa Suliman in the 800m at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (© AFP / Getty Images)
Farida Abaroge, a 2024 Olympian in the 1500m, competed here in the 5000m, clocking 16:27.35 in her heat on Thursday (18) after recent struggles with injury. Like Hassan, Abaroge is a native of Ethiopia, and is currently based in France.
Jamal Eisa Mohammed concluded the ART’s action on the track in the opening round of the men’s 5000m on Friday (19) clocking 13:58.90. Mohammed, who made his first ART appearance at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships, improved his personal best in the event to 13:21.39 in June.
Farida Abaroge in the 5000m at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (© World Athletics Eric Wu)
The team wrapped up their duties on Saturday (20) with a visit to the ASICS House, the team sponsor, where they toured the Japanese Olympic Museum, participated in a matcha team ceremony tutorial, and attended a safeguarding workshop with World Athletics Senior Counsel Katherine Pitre.
They were then guests at a daily sustainability meet and greet session hosted by the WCH Tokyo 25 LOC and Tokyo Municipal Government, where they led a quiz game and signed autographs and took photos with more than 150 fans and spectators who turned out.
The team was led this year by head coach Janeth Jepkosgei, the 2007 world 800m champion, and ART manager Ralph Mouchbahani.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
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