“We didn’t know their stories”. “There are a lot of people from other countries who are not even refugees”.
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“I want to shine the spotlight on the plight of refugees”.
“I want to show the best possible image of refugees or Syrian people, or anyone who has suffered injustice in the world, and tell them to not lose hope”, 25-year-old swimmer Rani Anis said to the BBC. Still, by the very special terms she’d set for herself, this was a victory.
The Refugee Olympic Team is a good Olympic story. As I have met numerous families of Vila Autódromo who have faced down violence and heard their stories, I find that first line by Bach to be borderline obscene. He hopes his newfound celebrity status as an Olympic athlete will inspire someone to offer him a scholarship so that when he returns home from Rio, so that he can continue his education.
JEFFREY BROWN: Just previous year, both Yusra Mardini and Rami Anis made the unsafe voyage across the Aegean Sea that’s become a symbol of an worldwide refugee crisis.
At last week’s Olympic opening ceremony in Rio, the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team marched in the Parade of Nations carrying flags emblazoned with the five-ring Olympics logo.
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FILIPPO GRANDI, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: I was so nervous, like if I was going to give an exam, I can tell you. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honour and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium. They will require financial, medical and emotional support to get back on their feet.
Because the International Olympic Committee has a strict protocol, the new refugee flag and anthem aren’t yet approved for use in official ceremonies. The specter of terrorism has made people wary of accepting refugees, but most of these refugees are simple folks who just want to work and raise their families. So, it was really a reversal of that approach, that vision.
Rose Nathike Lokonyen, South Sudan, 23 years old, competes in the 800-meter run. He runs next Tuesday. They were identified during trials held to find runners in 2015 at two refugee camps inside neighboring Kenya.
The perils of displacement have granted “Team Refugees” with an indestructible form of strength, triumphant enough to meet Olympic standards. “Most of us run because of war”. Like me, I was just running barefoot.
For the first time in history, a refugee team competes for medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. So, for them to step up to those technical levels would be hard. And hardly any of them will be potential Olympic athletes or “the new Steve Jobs”.
Who is he? Yonas left Ethiopia due to political problems and has been living in Luxembourg since 2013. She lost her first-round match on Wednesday; 24-year-old Popole Misenga won his first bout before losing to a world champion from South Korea.
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She is the leader of a group of 10 displaced athletes, known as the Refugee Olympic Team. I’m participating in the Olympics, and I thank God for that. “This was really unbelievable; this is what keeps motivating me now”, the 18-year-old swimmer told media on Friday. “My people will see me on the television, on Facebook”.
