Perina Lokure Nakang

Perina Lokure Nakang (born 2003) is a middle-distance runner from South Sudan who now lives in Kenya after fleeing conflict in South Sudan. She competed in the 800 metres event at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team.

Early life Nakang was born in South Sudan. Her name means "hard work" in Didinga. She left to seek sanctuary in Kenya with her aunt in 2010 at the age of seven years old due to the conflict in her home country. They lived in a UNHCR refugee camp in Kakuma, northern Kenya. She was later reunited with her mother and four siblings, although her father died under unclear circumstances after she fled. To train and continue her education, she attended the boarding school All4Running Shoes4Africa Secondary School in Kapsabet, Kenya.

Career Nakang tried several sports at the refugee camp and began running in 2019. She began with sprinting 100 or 200 metres before increasing the distance she ran.

She competed in the 800 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Although she did not make it out of the first round of heats, she enjoyed competing at the same event as Athing Mu-Nikolayev, who she looks up to as she also has South Sudanese heritage.

In May 2024, she was confirmed to be on the IOC Refugee Team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Ahead of the Olympics, she trained at a high-altitude camp in Eldoret.

In September 2025, she competed for the Athlete Refugee Team in the women's 800 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

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