He had risen to become one of Syria’s top athletes as a teenager, but all that was at risk with bombs exploding and the government rounding up suspected rebels.
Advertisement
Look no further than the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Journalists watched from the floor, thrusting microphones and cameras. You are just doing it because you love it, or it is your passion, but you know you’re not going to arrive to the world level or the Olympic level. This is the first time there’s been a team. Their future, full of hope, united them.
“I thought it would be a real shame if I drowned at sea because I am a swimmer”, Mardini said when she made it to Germany, where she was granted political asylum.
Mardini and fellow Syrian swimmer, Rami Anis, a world champion in his own right, are the only non-Africans on the team. She locked arms with another Syrian swimmer and two middle-distance runners from South Sudan. Other teammates, athletes like them from war-stricken countries, laughed or spoke with reporters. The four faces in Mardini’s iPhone all beamed as Mardini snapped a picture, another small moment within a major achievement.
A team with “no home, no flag and no national anthem” is set to steal the show at the Rio 2016 Olympics – after beating all the odds to compete. The refugee Olympic team will feature athletes from Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Ethiopia. We are not only refugees.
“It is interesting to see the different dynamics of the ones who have travelled more than the others but it is also nice to see them helping each other out”.
When asked what she’ll be thinking as she walks into Maracanã Stadium on Friday night, she is eloquent.
One click per second, for over sixty-five million seconds. “And the world needs to acknowledge those 60 million people”.
Yusra, 18 years old, told the Official Olympic Committee Website said that everyone on the boat prayed for surviving. The 10 athletes were selected from 43 potential candidates.
In a short video, Grover explains what a refugee is and why the displaced athletes are competing in the Olympics.
A record 206 nations will compete in Rio, according to BBC, including two first-time participants.
Yiech Biel grew up in South Sudan but fled to Kenya to escape the civil war. “They came and attacked our village”.
“Me and my sister were in the water”, said Mardini. Is there a stash of cash, a jar of coins, or something you could sell in order to give to any of the reputable organizations serving refugees?
“A lot of people are writing (to) us, telling us their stories”.
Last August, Mardini and her sister Sarah fled war-torn Syria and embarked on a harrowing, monthlong journey through Lebanon, Turkey and Greece, up through the Balkans and Central Europe, to Germany, narrowly dodging capture and death.
Thirty minutes after setting off from Turkey, the motor on their boat, which was meant for six people but carrying 20, began to fail. Her teammates have overcome similar hardships. “I’m here in Brazil participating so that one day I can bring them to live with me here in Brazil”.
Instead, the mirror on the globe will be delivered in the at-once inspiring and piercing form of the 10-member Refugee Olympic Team, the first of its kind. Here’s why there’s reason to celebrate – and worry in Brazil.
Advertisement
Yusra could never have imagined she would end up here, even though she has been swimming her entire life. “It’s a positive memory for me”.
