It was cheering like no one had heard before. As Farida Abaroge sped with grace towards the finish line in her heat of the women’s 1500mon Tuesday, every one of the 80,000 spectators here, one of Europe’s biggest stadiums, exploded into thunderous screams and roars.
“There were so many people, the noise was heavy in my ears, accompanying every movement of my feet,” she said. “This was my first experience of the Stade de France. It is incredible to have run this race here in France, the country that saved my life. The country where I now live. I want to thank all these people who made this dream come true.”
Abaroge, 30, is part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Refugee Team, which represents more than 100 million displaced people. When she stepped out on to the track alongside greats such as Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir and the USA’s Elle Purrier St Pierre, it was the first time she had set foot inside a stadium this big.
When Abaroge fled her native Ethiopia eight years ago, because of persecution, she was a karate black belt, footballer and would-be track runner who dreamed of one day competing at the Games but could not see how. Her gruelling search for safety lasted more than a year, taking her to Sudan, an Egyptian refugee camp, Libya, where she was imprisoned, and finally to France in 2017 where she was granted asylum.
Physically wrecked from hardship, lack of food and stomach surgery that had gone wrong en route, Abaroge made an astonishing return to sport, taking up athletics, to become part of the 37-strong Refugee Team competing in 12 sports in Paris.
Abaroge is now a symbol in France of sporting success in adversity. She remembers when she arrived in Alsace eight years ago, she did not own a pair of trainers. She credits the local town-hall team in Thal-Marmoutier, the village where she first settled, with helping her begin her running career by taking her to a sports shop to buy shoes.
“When I arrived in France, alone, they asked me what my passion was in life,” she said. “I said sport. They took me to a shop to buy some trainers and kit and I started running.”
She combined twice-daily training in Strasbourg with her full-time job packing parcel deliveries in a warehouse. Support from the IOC allowed her to take two months of unpaid leave to compete in the Games. “The workers there are all rooting for me,” she said. Before securing support from the Refugee Team, she had always worried about striking a balance with training that would allow her to keep her job and pay her rent.
Alone in France with no family, Aborage describes the Refugee Team as “like a family”. Her motto is simple: “I won’t give up after everything I’ve been through.” She said of her first Olympic 1500m race: “I’m not used to a stadium this huge, I’ve never been in such a big competition, with all the noise.
“The other athletes began slowly then accelerated, I’m not used to that because in my regional competitions it’s always me who’s ahead.”
At the rear of the field, she says she ploughed on towards the finish line with the crowd’s astonishing cheering filling her head, inspiring her to her best time of the season. “When I finished I was really proud. I had so much energy, there was a lot of emotion.
“I wasn’t even aware it was the finish. I wanted to keep going, keep running, but I noticed everyone around me had stopped, so I stopped too. It was as if I’d barely run, as if I’d just been out jogging.”
Abaroge said she felt mentally and physically on form and was looking forward to running again on Wednesdayin the 1500 repacharge. “I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved.”
