Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics
| Refugee Olympic Athletes at the Olympic Games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||
| Competitors | ||||||||
| Medals | Gold 0 |
Silver 0 |
Bronze 0 |
Total 0 |
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A team of Refugee Olympic Athletes is scheduled to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016.
In March 2016 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach declared that the IOC would choose five to ten refugees to compete at the Rio Olympics. They are expected to compete under the Olympic Flag and would be called "Team of Refugee Olympic Athletes", with the IOC country code ROA.[1]
As part of an effort "to show solidarity with the world’s refugees",[2] the United Nations Refugee Agency selected Ibrahim Al-Hussein, a Syrian refugee who now resides in Athens, Greece, to carry the Olympic flame through the Eleonas refugee and migrant camp in the city as part of the 2016 torch relay.[3]
Team selection and funding
The IOC has identified 43 potential candidates for inclusion in the team with the final selection to take into account sporting ability, personal circumstances and United Nations-verified refugee status.[1] In order to pay for athlete training, a fund of US$2 million was created by the IOC. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were then asked to identify any displaced athletes in their countries who might be able to reach Olympic standard.[4]
An initial three athletes were identified as potential competitors for Rio; Yusra Mardini, a 17-year-old Syrian swimmer, who crossed from Turkey into Greece in inflatable boat before crossing Europe by train through mainland Greece, the Balkans, Hungary and Austria to eventually reach Germany where she now lives and trains;[5] Raheleh Asemani, an Iranian taekwondo athlete training in Belgium; and judoka Popole Misenga, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo but now living in Brazil.[4] Mardini and Asemani have received IOC Olympic Solidarity scholarships.[5]
Additional candidates for selection have been identified from Syria, cyclists Ahmad Badr Waid and Nazir Jaser and triathlete Mohamad Masoo, and in Kenya where a support program run by former marathon world record holder Tegla Loroupe has identified 23 athletes from the Kakuma refugee camp.[4][5]
References
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