He lost both of his parents at age 9 due to the Second Sudanese Civil War, a conflict which lasted from 1983 to 2005 and devastated Sudan.

[12] He spent the next 10 years staying at an orphanage—separated from his sisters—for a short period of time in mid-2007 before crossing over into a town outside of Nairobi with the assistance of an Italian non-governmental organization.

[13][12] Tegla Loroupe, a famous Kenyan long-distance runner, noticed his skills and recruited him to be a member of the Athlete Refugee Team (ART).

Aspiring runners develop their athletic skills as well as engage in prestigious high level competitions, ranging from the Olympics to the World Championships.

His fellow athletes shared similar sentiments concerning "rising tensions over their training" and cited "dissatisfaction with a system that, to them, appeared to deny them opportunities to create lives outside the program" as contributing factors to their defection.

[17] Gatkuoth Puok Thiep, a South Sudanese runner wanting to hastily exit the Athlete Refugee Team in the same manner, accompanied Lobalu as they wandered the streets of Geneva without any money or local contacts.

An immigration officer at the centre connected the men to Coach Markus Hagmann, who subsequently invited them to LC Brühl in St.

[18] Lobalu's success at the Diamond League in Stockholm on 30 June was a big surprise, because he managed to beat the half-marathon world champion Jacob Kiplimo, among other medallists in the 3000 metres.

He could have potentially been crowned the 5000 metres champion for the 2023 season at the Prefontaine Classic, however, his Swiss residence permit presents problems entering the United States, as is typical for refugee athletes to encounter.

[21] A 30-minute documentary about Dominic Lobalu called The Right to Race was released at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on 20 June 2023, which is World Refugee Day.

Australian filmmaker Richard Bullock played a role in writing and directing it, alongside Hungry Man Productions.

[24] The short film chronicles various moments in Lobalu's journey to become an elite athlete and details his prominent rise to the running world stage.

Although they struggled initially to communicate, given that Lobalu spoke little English or German, their bond grew instantly over their interest in athletics.

In most cases, they need to either obtain a special visa if possible or accept missing out on large portions of sports meetings outside of their new home countries.

Despite having shown on multiple occasions that he is capable of challenging the top contenders in his field, he is ineligible to participate without a national identity—the central and reoccurring theme throughout the video.

An official update was made available on 4 September 2023 determining that he can start for Switzerland beginning on 6 April 2026 based on the condition that he must 'strengthen his ties' to the country.

Lobalu's legal representatives are carefully reading over the terms of his eligibility and might appeal the time frame designated by the panel.

He repeated that he wants to run today, rather than tomorrow, "for the country and the people who, as a refugee, made [him] feel at home for the first time in [his] life".