Up to thirty-six athletes from eleven countries, hosted by another fifteen, will be part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, of which athletes from Iran make up almost half. Among these is the Afghan B-girl (breaking) Manizha Talash, who found a home in Spain (Huesca). There are twelve sports represented in the group, with athletics (7), judo (6) and taekwondo (5) leading the way. Completing the list are canoeing (4), swimming (2), cycling (2), boxing (2), shooting (2), wrestling (2), weightlifting (2), breaking and badminton. .
The President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, announced in a ceremony from the Olympic House in Lausanne (Switzerland) the IOC Refugee Olympic Team that will participate in Paris 2024, for the third time in an Olympic Games and representing the more than 100 million of displaced people from all over the world. This is the largest team of refugees in the history of an Olympic event. «We welcome you all with open arms. You are an enrichment for our Olympic Community and for our societies. With your participation in the Olympic Games you will demonstrate the human potential for resilience and excellence. “This will send a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world,” Bach said.
“At the same time, you will make billions of people around the world aware of the magnitude of the refugee crisis. Therefore, I encourage everyone, around the world, to join us in cheering you on: the IOC Refugee Olympic Team,” added the IOC President, addressing an Olympic Refugee Team that joined, via video call. , to the act.
The composition of the team was approved by the IOC Executive Board and was based on a series of criteria including, first of all, the sporting performance of each athlete and their refugee status verified by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. .
The head of mission of the Refugee Olympic Team, the Afghan cyclist Masomah Ali Zada, who already competed with the Refugee Olympic Team in Tokyo 2020, was present at the ceremony and welcomed the rest of the 36 athletes who will compete in Paris. «All of you had a dream, and today your dream of competing in the Olympic Games is closer than ever. With all the challenges you have faced, you now have the opportunity to inspire a new generation,” she said.
For the first time, the Refugee Olympic Team will compete with its own emblem, a unifying symbol that will bring together diverse athletes and give the team its own identity. “Coming from different corners of the world, each team member is an individual with his own story,” the IOC acknowledged.
At the center of the emblem is a heart, which comes from the Olympic Refuge Foundation logo, to represent the belonging that the team hopes to inspire and that athletes and displaced people around the world have found through sport.
IOC priority
«This emblem unites us all. We are all united by our experience: although we are all different, we have all traveled a path to get to where we are. The athletes do not represent a specific country, but rather the Refugee Olympic Team. Having our own emblem creates a feeling of belonging and gives us the power to also represent the population of more than 100 million people who share this same experience. I can’t wait to wear it with pride,” said Ali Zada.
Supporting refugees and displaced populations remains a key priority for the IOC, and forms part of Recommendation 11 of the Olympic Agenda. The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) was created in 2017 to build on this commitment and operates as a traditional National Olympic Committee, managing scholarship refugee athletes and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024.
2024-05-03 09:35:51
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