“It’s absolutely an honor for me to be here”, Mardini told a press conference Saturday.
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Held in Antwerp (BEL) and Buenos Aires (ARG) in June and July 2015, the FIH Hockey World League semi-finals decided who would be joining hosts Brazil at the 12-team Rio 2016 field hockey tournament. “I send my hugs and best wishes wherever you might be”.
He acknowledged the International Olympic Committee’s unprecedented move of creating a refugee Olympic team including five South Sudanese athletes who will be participating in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s not an easy team”, said Tegla Loroupe, the ROT’s chef de mission. But she’s in grief over losing her country.
Mardini is joined in the refugee ranks by another Syrian swimmer, Rami Anis.
“When I think of those things all those years ago I feel sad”.
“I am not sad that I can not carry the flag of my country because I represent refugees around the world and so I am competing under the flag of all their countries”, he said. Anis fled Syria in 2011 to avoid being enlisted into the army, relocating to Belgium from Istanbul in October a year ago.”I’m very proud to be here”, Rami said.
On August 5, organizers will hope to put all those various problems behind them when athletes from across the world march into the Maracana Stadium for the Opening Ceremony and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
And the International Olympic Committee has taken the unprecedented step of including a refugee team, giving talented athletes who have been forced to flee their homes the chance to chase gold.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Popole Misenga broke down crying – for the family in Congo that he hasn’t seen in 15 years, and for all the world’s refugees who haven’t been as lucky as he’s been.
Rio’s new metro Line 4, which will be a major legacy of the games, links the city’s tourism district with the western Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, where numerous Olympic events are slated to take place, Xinhua news agency reported.
Eventing – which involves dressage, jumping and cross country – opens the equestrian competition in Rio with the team and individual dressage section starting on Aug 6. “This is not just a struggle for sport, it’s a struggle for life”.
Kovacs said Friday that “over the past months it became clear to me that my dear family is first in my heart, not canoeing”.
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Researchers found that numerous beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies, creating hazardous swimming conditions for the 500,000 people expected to descend on the city in August.
