Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has unveiled the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024. It marks the third time we’ll witness this team at the Olympic Games, representing over 100 million displaced people worldwide this year.
The team will be led by Masomah Ali Zada, who was a member of the Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020. Most athletes on the team receive support through the Refugee Athlete Support Programme, administered by the IOC Refugee Foundation and funded by Olympic Solidarity. The team selection process is based on both athletic performance and refugee status, as confirmed by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
“We welcome you all with open arms. You are an enrichment to our Olympic Community and to our societies,” remarked Thomas Bach during the unveiling. Additionally, he addressed the real protagonists, stating, “You will make billions of people worldwide aware of the magnitude of the refugee crisis.”
The team leader, Masomah Ali Zada, also welcomed the athletes, saying, “Everyone had a dream, and today your dream is to compete in the Olympic Games. You have the opportunity to inspire a new generation, represent something bigger than yourselves, and show the world what refugees are capable of.”
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, also attended the refugee team unveiling, referring to this team as the hope for all those uprooted by war and persecution. He added, “These athletes represent what human beings can do, even in the face of extreme adversity.”
AN EMBLEM OF THEIR OWN AND OF ALL
For the first time in the Olympic Games, the Refugee Olympic Team will compete under its own team emblem. It’s a unifying symbol that brings together diverse athletes and gives the team its unique identity.
Coming from different corners of the world, each team member has their own story, much like the 100 million people they represent. At the heart of the emblem is a heart, derived from the Olympic Refuge Foundation logo, representing the sense of belonging the team hopes to inspire and that athletes and displaced people worldwide have found through sports.
“We have all traveled a path to get where we are”
Ali Zada asserts, “This emblem unites us all, bonded by experience, though we are all different, we have all traveled a path to get where we are.” She added that having their own emblem creates a sense of belonging and allows them to also represent the population of over 100 million people who share that same experience.
The athletes who are part of the Refugee Olympic Team are Adnan Khankan, Árabe Sibghatullah, Mahboubeh Barbari Yharfi, Mohammad Rashnonezhad, Muna Dahoul, Nigara Shaheen, who will compete in Judo, Alaa Maso and Matin Balsini in swimming, Amir Ansari and Eyeru Gebru in road cycling, Amir Rezenejad Hassanjani in Canoe Slalom, and Fernando Dayan, Saeid Fazloula, and Saman Soltani in Canoe Sprint. In boxing, Cindy Ngamba and Omid Ahmadisafa. In Taekwondo, Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi, Farzad Mansouri, Hadi Tiranvalipour, Kasra Mehdipournejad, Yahya Al Ghotany, Abdullah Sediqi, and Kimia Alizadeh will compete. In one of the Olympics’ flagship disciplines, Athletics, Dorian Keletela, Farida Abaroge, Jamal Abdelmaji, Mohammad Amin Alsalami, Musa Suliman, Perina Lokure Nakang, and Tachlowini Gabriyesos will compete. Dorsa Yavarivafa will compete in badminton, Manizha Talash in breaking, Francisco Edilio Centeno and Luna Solomon in shooting, Ramiro Mora and Yekta Jamali Galeh in weightlifting, and Iman Mahdavi in wrestling.
The participation of the Refugee Olympic Team in the Olympic Games is not only a testament to their resilience and excellence but also sends a powerful message of hope, belonging, and inclusion.
