U's Ibrahim Kabia: Refugee on the run

Ibrahim Kabia -- who developed a passion for soccer in his native Sierra Leone -- might never have gone out for track had he arrived in Minnesota in the fall.

But Kabia, uprooted as a boy by a civil war in his African homeland, came to Champlin Park High School in the middle of winter in January of 2001, after the conclusion of the prep soccer season. Eager to make friends, he tried track as a freshman. After an early false start -- he quit the Rebels' team before the section meet his first year -- Kabia has gone on to become one of the University of Minnesota's best sprinters ever as a junior.

On May 19, Kabia became only the second Gopher to win the 100 meters in the Big Ten Championships. His time of 10.29 seconds was a personal best. Earlier this spring, he won the 100 in the prestigious Drake Relays.

Kabia will compete Friday and Saturday in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Lincoln, Neb. A top-five finish there -- he is seeded sixth -- would qualify Kabia for the NCAA outdoor championships two weeks later in Des Moines. Kabia's improbable journey to Division I track success began when he and most of his immediate family were forced to flee from Sierra Leone in the midst of an 11-year civil war. At least 50,000 died in the conflict, including one of Ibrahim's uncles, who was the country's minister of social welfare.

About 2 million people, or a third of the population in the impoverished west African country, were refugees at some time during the civil war.

Fatima Kabia, Ibrahim's mother, left Sierra Leone first. In 1995, she went to visit a brother in the Twin Cities and never returned when the civil war spread to the outskirts of the capital city of Freetown, where her family lived.

After almost six years apart, Ibrahim Kabia, his two brothers, his sister and his father, Thaimu, were reunited with Fatima at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Jan. 22, 2001.

"I was so happy, it was the happiest day of my life," Fatima Kabia said. "All along I was crying, wondering about them."

Several times, her family barely survived. Thaimu Kabia said rebels repeatedly threatened to kill him and his family unless he supported their cause and kept asking for money to buy cigarettes and rum.

In 1998, the rebels set fire to the Kabias' house, with Ibrahim still inside hiding in the kitchen. His father's screams for help to put out the fire got Ibrahim to run outside. Thaimu did not know where Ibrahim was.

With their home destroyed, Thaimu and his family escaped Freetown by taking a fishing boat to neighboring Guinea. Once there, they almost starved.

Authorities in Guinea, accusing the Kabias of being rebels themselves, refused to let the family ashore for 11 days.

After five days, Thaimu said, he bribed someone to bring his family bread and some luncheon meats.

Soon afterward they contacted an aunt in Guinea who vouched for them and took them in for two weeks. The Kabias stayed in Guinea for almost three years before being permitted to emigrate to the United States.

Once at Champlin Park, Ibrahim decided to go out for track with modest expectations: "In real life, I walk slow, I like to take my time doing things ... even in soccer, I am not as fast in soccer."

Track has turned out to be his best sport, although soccer remains his favorite and he was an all-conference player in high school.

At Minnesota, the 5-9 1/2, 175-pound Kabia has earned All-America status in track already. He placed fifth in the 60-meter dash in the 2007 national indoor championships.

"Physiologically, he is not your usual Minnesota sprinter," said Phil Lundin, the Gophers men's track and field coach. "His top-end speed technique and his block starts are models, so we use him oftentimes when we are teaching."

Kabia is muscular and explosive, Lundin said, with world-class technique.

But in high school, Kabia tired of the long three-month track season as a freshman, so he dropped out even though he was a member of a relay. In Africa, he said, the track season was over in one long weekend.

Feeling guilty the next spring, Kabia rejoined the track team and surprised himself by placing eighth in the 100 meters in the Class 2A state meet. He won the 100 as a junior and senior. His winning time of 10.49 seconds as a senior remains the state meet record.

At the U, though, chronic hamstring injuries have plagued Kabia until this spring when his training routine changed. As unique as his speed is, Lundin said, Kabia's character sets him apart more. Kabia, a team captain, is always concerned about his teammates and their progress.

"He is one of the kindest people I ever met," Lundin said.

His mother expected Ibrahim to excel in college. "He is the kind of a kid who is very obedient, pays attention, follows rules even at home," Fatima Kabia said. "Whatever his coaches tell him, he will do. He is very focused."

On this weekend, currently.

Kabia, a psychology major, has a long-range plan, too. He probably will become a nurse like his mother. Then he wants to return to Sierra Leone despite what he saw there: bodies in the streets, kids with guns, and other scenes right out of the 2006 movie "Blood Diamond" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

"[Sierra Leone] was a disaster, but I thank God that I was able to come out of there without a scratch," said Kabia, who still speaks Krio, the common language of Sierra Leone, almost daily with family and friends.

"I want to get my education right now," Kabia said, "and [then] I want to go back and be able to help the country somehow."

His mother understands his motives. "That's home," she said.