"Dominic Lobalu"

9 August 2024

9 mins 09s

You've come a long way.

It's hard to condense a remarkable story like Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu's into a commercial, but directors J M Harper and Hector Aponysus make a damn good fist of it. Their nine-minute documentary shows how an orphan from South Sudan grew up to become an elite middle and long-distance runner for Switzerland.

When Lobalu lost his parents to the Second Sudanese Civil War, he fled to Kenya and became part of the Athlete Refugee Team. Switzerland became home for the man who used to chase goats, and Markus Hagmann became the coach and mentor Lobalu had waited his whole life for.

Life is now about medals (Lobalu won 10,000m gold and 5,000m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships—not bad for your Swiss debut, eh?), as well as endorsement by sportswear brand On. It's been a busy summer for them, and this is a good way to round it off.

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