Popole Misenga, 24, is a middleweight judo athlete who learned the sport at a center for displaced children in the DRC after becoming separated from his family as he fled fighting.
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CRI’s Victor Ning with their stories.
The International Olympic Committee has announced that a refugee team will participate in this summer’s Rio Games.
Oboh, who is also a former Commonwealth champion, said in a statement that the country’s performance at the 2015 All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, where the boxers won six medals were not built upon at the qualifiers. So, at the time, my Dad was killed in the war. “A lot of friends were killed in the street where I was living”. So the soldiers were looking for people who can join the army and even if you are 10 years old they can recruit you to join them.
Kinde left Ethiopia, where he said it’s impossible for him to live: “It’s very risky for my life”.
The Olympic flag will lead the refugees and the Olympic anthem will be played in their honor, the IOC president said. “Refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to Society”.
Yiech Pur Biel, 21, James Nyang Chiengjiek, 28, Anjelina Nada Lohalith, 21, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, 23, and Paulo Amotun Lokoro, 24, were all refugees at Kakuma Camp that houses approximately 300,000 refugees in northwest Kenya.
Mabika, 28, recounts in Portuguese how both she and Misenga, 23, were part of the Congo’s national judo team when they arrived in Brazil three years ago to compete in the Judo World Championships.
Misenga’s coach said his experience made him aggressive.
“I am very excited because I will see the big swimmer Michael Phelps, and I am very proud”.
While Curtin wouldn’t disclose how much the refugee athletes are getting, he said it’s the same deal as the other athletes sponsored by Visa, which includes Kerri Walsh Jennings, Carli Lloyd and Ashton Eaton.
For the past two decades, the IOC – a not-for-profit independent global organisation made up of volunteers – has used sport as a vehicle for positive development among young refugees in camps and settlements around the world, establishing sports programs, providing coaches and trainers, facilities and equipment. Five will come from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from Congo, and one from Ethiopia. He will run in the men’s marathon.
Brazilian organizers have assured the International Olympic Committee that construction of the velodrome will be completed by the end of June and be ready in time for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
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As part of the IOC’s pledge to aid potential elite athletes affected by the worldwide refugee crisis, NOCs around the world were asked to identify any refugee athlete with the potential to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
