The largest International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team made its way across the Seine with a picturesque floating parade representing the 120 million forcibly displaced people around the globe during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 last Saturday night, July 27 (PH time).
The 37-strong team from the Refugee Olympic Team will compete across 12 sports. The Refugee Athletes Scholarship Programme supports the majority of the athletes for their training which the Olympic Refuge Foundation manages and is funded by the Olympic Solidarity. The eligibility of each athlete was recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).
Looking back, the IOC revealed its first refugee team during the Rio 2016 Games with 10 athletes and competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with 29 athletes. Today, their third Olympic appearance with the largest number of competing athletes since its creation will demonstrate the human potential of resilience and excellence.
“This will send a message of hope to more than 100 million displaced people around the world,” says IOC President Thomas Bach.
The athletes came from the countries of Syria, Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iran, and Afghanistan and is led by their ‘Cheffe de Mission’ Masomah Ali Zada, a member of the Refugee team and a 2020 Olympic cyclist.
“In Tokyo, we just missed out on a medal. I’m confident that this time we can demonstrate to the world what refugees are capable of – with an Olympic medal,” she said.
The UK-based boxer Cindy Ngamba and the taekwondo player Yayha AI Ghotany were the team’s flag bearers during the event.
Among the refugees competing in this year’s olympics is Fernando Dayán Jorge, a two-time canoeing Olympian for Cuba’s national team in Rio and Tokyo; Manizha Talash, a 21-year-old Afghan will compete for ‘breaking’, (a new sport introduced in this year’s Olympics); and 24-year-old cyclist Amir Ansari, who participated in national and international tournaments.
During the opening ceremony, Grandi, the Vice-Chair of the Olympic Refuge Foundation was honored with the Olympic Laurel, an IOC award to honor outstanding achievements in education, culture, development, and peace through sport.