In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established the Olympic Refugee Team (EOR) with the aim of helping those athletes whose countries are under some type of conflict worldwide. Paris 2024 will be the third time that the EOR will be present at an Olympic event, with 36 athletes from 11 different countries competing in 12 different sports. One of these athletes is the Iranian Mahboube Barbari Zharfi, who has been able to fulfill her dream thanks to her efforts and the support of the International Judo Federation (IJF) in all her steps.
Among the athletes nominated for this team is Mahboube Barbari Zharfi who was the last athlete to be confirmed for Paris 2024. He was born in Iran and at the age of 15 he began practicing judo, a discipline in which he quickly began to progress and stand out from his peers, eventually representing the Iranian national team. In 2018 and after a series of conflicts in her country, Barbari requested asylum in Germany, where she is today as a refugee with her little daughter.
Mahboube and Marius Vizer
“I was born in Iran and that was where I started practicing judo. After a while, I realized that judo had the ability to give me a purpose in life, as I struggled to find myself,” Barbari said in an interview with the International Judo Federation.
HER NUMBER ONE FAN
Zharfi has gone through hard times in her personal and sporting life, now settled in Germany she tries to balance motherhood and training: “The only thing that matters to me is to train and take care of her (her daughter). She is my number one fan and I will do anything for her. I wouldn’t be here without my daughter and my family. Even though my family is far away, they send me positive energy.” Hence, the IJF and the president himself, Marius Vizer, are taking this special case into consideration to try to support her in everything she needs.
Paris 2024 will be the third Olympic Games for the EOR and the first for Barbari, “I feel super excited to participate in the Games, it is the first time for me. Participating in the Olympic Games represents power, as a single mother and refugee I was able to classify. We want to achieve anything, no matter what happens.”
“A message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people”
Barbari Zahrfi Mahboubeh is one of the six judo representatives who are present in the Refugee Olympic Team for the Paris 2024 Games. During the announcement made at the ceremony broadcast live from the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, had the following words for the EOR: “Your participation in the Olympic Games will demonstrate the potential for resilience and excellence of human beings. “This sends a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world.”
Many of the athletes in this delegation receive support through scholarship programs administered by the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) and financed by Olympic Solidarity. To be eligible, the athlete must be an elite competitor in their sport and a refugee in their host country, recognized by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Balanced participation in sport, gender and regions is also considered.
These and many other stories of overcoming and sacrifice make up the Refugee Olympic Team, whose participation we will closely follow at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
