2017–2018 Lobalu's debut at the
2017 World Relays in
Nassau, Bahamas on 5 April marked the beginning of his professional career. He and his teammates did the
4 × 800 metres relay and came in seventh place. Just shy of his 19th birthday, he went to the
2017 World Championships in
London, United Kingdom on 10 August. He concluded the second heat of 1500 metres without advancing forward to the final rounds. After, he increased his distance to the 5000 metres at the
2018 African Championships in
Asaba, Nigeria on 5 August. He finished in 11th place.
2019: Sudden Departure from the Athlete Refugee Team Altogether, Lobalu's time with the Athlete Refugee Team consisted of only a handful of events. It ended unexpectedly on 11 May 2019 at the Harmony Geneva Marathon for UNICEF. He travelled from Kenya to run in the 10 kilometres. Following his win, he decided to leave the Athlete Refugee Team unannounced and snuck out of the team's hotel room. He was supposed to return to Kenya the day after the marathon, however, he adamantly chose to remain in Switzerland no matter the consequences. As a result, he changed the course of his career and drastically crushed his chances of being selected for the
2020 Olympics in
Tokyo, Japan. Prior to his abrupt departure, he questioned his managers about the prize money for the Geneva Marathon but they informed him that there was no prize money. He thought that their responses to him were evasive and it led him to believe that they were hiding something. According to Lobalu, the managers' perception of the refugees was that they "should accept whatever they had, whether there was prize money or not". He frowned upon this idea. 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. The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) and
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) delivered a ruling in July 2021 that disallowed Lobalu and
Gai John Nyang—another athlete who absconded while in
Mainz, Germany—from being on the
Refugee Olympic Team (ROT). The two organisations feared that more of the refugees might be encouraged to imitate the rogue actions of Lobalu and Nyang. in 2021
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. Eventually, they applied for asylum at a Swiss refugee centre and continued pursuing their running ambitions. An immigration officer at the centre connected the men to Coach Markus Hagmann, who subsequently invited them to LC Brühl in
St. Gallen.
2022: Diamond League Victory 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. Prior to that point, he had been mainly unknown and obscure. However, he immediately elevated his status thanks to his world leading time of 7:29.48. During the race, he hung out close to the back of the pack but finally made his move around the last 200 metres. He quickly picked up his pace and charged straight ahead of everyone else to catch Kiplimo. They battled head-to-head for a few seconds as they headed toward the home stretch. Kiplimo refused to relinquish his position at the front and fought to maintain a wider gap between them. Ultimately, Lobalu overtook him just before they crossed the finish line. It was Lobalu's first Diamond League win and the first ever for his sponsor On. His stellar results were a slight glimpse of what was to come in the future. Furthermore, he asserted his role as a promising world-class athlete, in spite of being a refugee.
2023: Zagreb Meeting Record Lobalu won the
Hanžeković Memorial in
Zagreb, Croatia on 10 September. During the process, he set a new meeting record of 7:33.95 in the 3000 metres. He defeated
Henrik Ingebrigtsen in his scrimmage for the number one spot by sprinting to the finish line in the last lap. Thanks to his big win, Lobalu received an invitation to the final stage of the Diamond League in
Eugene. 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. ==
The Right to Race documentary==