On the eve of World Refugee Day, the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) announced the inclusion of 17 new athletes in its training programs, with their sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28). The initiative, which involves eight National Olympic Committees and nine sporting disciplines, reinforces the Olympic Movement’s commitment to the inclusion of displaced people through sport, providing new opportunities for refugee athletes whose careers have been disrupted by conflict, persecution, or humanitarian crises.
The announcement carries particular significance in a global context marked by rising forced displacement. More than 117 million people are currently living away from their homes due to various crises, a reality that also affects elite athletes. For many of them, leaving their country meant losing not only a place to live, but also access to training, competition, and support networks. In this context, sport emerges as a tool for stability and belonging.
62 Refugee Athletes Keep the Olympic Dream Alive on the Road to LA28
With the addition of these 17 new athletes, the Refugee Athlete Support Programme now provides assistance to a total of 62 athletes competing in 14 different sports and hosted by 16 National Olympic Committees. In addition, 18 International Federations now allow refugee athletes to participate in official competitions, while several have incorporated refugee teams into their World Championships, expanding development opportunities and visibility for these athletes.
Participation in this program represents one of the main pathways toward joining the Refugee Olympic Team, an initiative that allows athletes to compete under the Olympic flag. Through funding provided by Olympic Solidarity scholarships, beneficiaries will receive financial and technical support through the Los Angeles 2028 Games. To qualify, athletes must meet two key requirements: maintain an elite competitive level in their sport and hold official refugee status recognized by UNHCR in their host countries.
Sport as a Tool to Rebuild Lives and Communities
The new participants in the program represent stories of resilience and perseverance spanning different regions of the world and disciplines as diverse as athletics, taekwondo, wrestling, weightlifting, cycling, swimming, judo, shooting, and canoeing. Athletes such as Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez, hosted by the United States in canoeing; Dario Lokoro, a refugee in Kenya and long-distance runner; and sisters Ayda and Aysa Khorshidi, who continue their sporting careers in the United Kingdom, demonstrate how sport can become a bridge to new opportunities when circumstances force people to start over.
Managed by the ORF with the support of National Olympic Committees and International Federations, the program aims to achieve much more than sporting success. Since the creation of the Refugee Olympic Team, which made its debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and later competed at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, the goal has been to provide a platform that allows athletes to rebuild their careers and maintain their connection to high-performance sport. This commitment will continue to grow with preparations for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, where a Refugee Youth Olympic Team will compete for the first time, further expanding an initiative that seeks to transform sport into a space of solidarity, inclusion, and hope for those who have had to rebuild their lives far from home.
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