Refugee team to debut at Rio Olympics

SBS World News Radio: The International Olympic Committee has announced a Refugee Olympic team for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Refugee team to debut at Rio Olympics

Refugee team to debut at Rio Olympics Source: AAP

The International Olympic Committee has announced a Refugee Olympic team for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC says the ten athletes will act as a symbol of hope for refugees worldwide and bring global attention to the magnitude of the refugee crisis.

The athletes will compete in Brazil for the Refugee Olympic Team - the first of its kind.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach says these refugees have no home, no team, no flag and no national anthem.

He says they will be offered a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the world.

The Olympic anthem will be played in their honour and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony.

Mr Bach says practical support will also be offered.

"Twelve officials will accompany these athletes and will facilitate their participation in the Olympic Games Rio 2016. "

The athletes originally hail from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Teenager Yusra Mardini is a swimmer from Syria who fled the fighting with her older sister in 2015.

During the most hazardous part of their journey they found themselves in an open boat with a broken motor, part of the way from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos.

"You know I'm describing now in a funny way because it was a long time ago but it was really hard. Me and my sister were in the water, and actually before my sister told me 'if something happens, don't help anyone', and then she gets in the water and she helped them. And it was quite hard just to think that you're a swimmer and in the end you're going to end up dying in the water who you know the best."

Mardini says she might be a little overcome by emotion when she enters the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, representing a team of refugees.

"I think I will think about my family and my coach, my friends and everyone who's helped me. I will think how proud I am of what I did it and that I even tried to go back - because you know a lot of sports people didn't do that and actually I don't know how really I had the power but I did it. I am really glad for that and I think, yeah, I will be crying, too."

In Kenya, there's a group of South Sudanese athletes training to join the Refugee Olympic Team.

Out of the 10 members, five are from what is now South Sudan and have been living in Kakuma refugee camp in the country's north-west for years.

One runner, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, has been living in Kakuma for most of her life since escaping her homeland in 2002.

The 23-year-old only began competitive running recently and will compete in the 800-metre event.

"I will be really happy to hold the flag of refugees because this is where I started my life and where I saw other people and maybe make them come together as it would be one team as even if we are from different nationalities that will kind of bring us together and interact with so people all over the world and from different countries."

Also at the same Nairobi-based training camp is 24-year-old Paulo Amotun Lokoro from South Sudan.

He'll compete in the 1500-metre race and has big ambitions.

"I want to win a gold, I want to be famous. If I really win the race, I will be famous, in the future."

IOC Chief Thomas Bach says the team is a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and enrich society.

He says the athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies they've faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit.

The IOC says it will continue to support the athletes after the Games are over.

 

 

 


Share
4 min read
Published 6 June 2016 3:00pm
Updated 7 June 2016 7:38am
By Sonja Heydeman


Share this with family and friends