Dominic Lobalu is one of the best long-distance runners in the world and has been racing under the Swiss flag since autumn. Swiss Athletics is confident that Lobalu will be able to run at the European Championships and the Olympic Games in the summer.
Is Dominic Lobalu already running for European Championship medals in Rome in June?
Gian Ehrenzeller / Keystone
For a world-class athlete, Swiss Championships (SM) play a subordinate role. Runners of the level of Dominic Lobalu only use the national championships for training under competition conditions. Because Lobalu, 25 years old, is one of the best long-distance runners in the world. He has already triumphed over 3000 meters in the Diamond League and ran the 5000 meters under the magical mark of 13 minutes (12:52.15 minutes).
But Lobalu has never competed in national championships.
That will change on Sunday, Lobalu will run the 3000 meters at the indoor SM in St. Gallen. Unlike last year, his performance will be officially evaluated. He says: “I have never run for my homeland. I have now found this home.” And his trainer Markus Hagmann says: “These SMs will trigger a lot of emotions, in Dominic, but also in those around him.”
Lobalu’s story has been told many times – and is complicated. At the age of nine he fled from Sudan to Kenya; his parents were killed in the civil war. The running talent was discovered while on the run, and Lobalu found shelter in the World Athletics refugee team in Kenya. However, at a race in Geneva in May 2019, Lobalu broke away from the team. Promises to him had not been kept, he said. He came via a detour to a refugee home in Toggenburg, where he came into contact with trainer Hagmann and LC Brühl. Since then, Lobalu has been playing for the club from St. Gallen.
He never started for his home country of South Sudan, the state has only existed since 2011. Lobalu has never lived there, he has lived in Abtwil (SG) since 2019. Although he has South Sudanese citizenship, he has ruled out starting in this country because an ethnic group that killed his parents rules there. He cannot apply for a Swiss passport until 2031 at the earliest. Then his sports career may be coming to an end.
The leap to the top of the world: Dominic Lobalu triumphs as a previously unknown at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
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World Athletics wants Lobalu to wait until 2026
In addition to World Athletics, the International Olympic Committee also has a refugee team. But Lobalu is not eligible to compete for this team in Paris. He no longer has refugee status in Switzerland, but rather a residence permit. A year ago, Lobalu and the Swiss Association Swiss Athletics looked for a way to give the world-class runner an opportunity to compete in major events. In April 2023 there was movement in the matter. Swiss Athletics submitted an application to the world association to allow Lobalu to compete under the Swiss flag in the future. World Athletics had recommended this route to Switzerland’s right to compete.
Lobalu still missed the World Championships in Budapest last year, and World Athletics only granted the request last September. Since then, Lobalu has been eligible to compete, record and win a title for Switzerland. At the end of December and January he equalized the European records for 5 km and 10 km on the road in Barcelona and Valencia – for Switzerland, without a Swiss passport. Has history changed for the better?
The answer is: “No”. Lobalu is allowed to start for Switzerland. As he says, he has found a “home.” But World Athletics has given him a three-year waiting period for international title fights. Lobalu will only be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games, World Cup and European Championships from April 2026. He is in danger of missing the European Championships in Rome and the Summer Games in Paris.
For several years now, athletes’ nationality changes have had to be approved by the Nationality Review Panel of World Athletics. This is intended to prevent certain countries from quickly naturalizing strong athletes – in order to hunt for medals. The panel requires, among other things, evidence that an athlete has a long-term perspective and is integrated in the new home country. “This is definitely done to protect the athletes,” says the President of Swiss Athletics, Christoph Seiler.
The decision should come in the spring
Swiss Athletics has submitted a request to the world association to reconsider the three-year waiting period for Lobalu. There are several reasons for this, says Seiler. Lobalu meets the criteria for immediate eligibility to compete in international championships. Lobalu has lived in Switzerland for almost five years and has never been dependent on social welfare. He makes his living through sport. He now gives interviews in German. “We now want to get him a longer-term residence permit,” says Seiler.
Seiler hopes that this perspective and the roots in eastern Switzerland will convince the world association to let Lobalu take part in international title fights as early as 2024. World Athletics will deal with the application promptly and has promised the Swiss association a decision in the spring. “I am therefore confident that Dominic can compete at the European Championships in Rome and at the Olympics,” says Seiler. If the decision is negative, Swiss Athletics will probably take legal action, i.e. appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in Lausanne.
A few days before the Swiss Championships, Lobalu said about the uncertainty: “I’m concentrating on training. Everything else is out of my control. I try to block that out.” Hardly anyone doubts that Lobalu will become Swiss champions this weekend. Coach Hagmann invited him to dinner that evening. He knows: Lobalu will have more to celebrate this Sunday than a race win.