The Parade of Nations was about to conclude at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The stadium was abuzz as the host team, Brazil, was about to enter. But instead of the host team, ten athletes marched proudly in with a flag displaying the Olympic rings. This was the inaugural appearance of a Refugee Olympic Team (their Olympic code is EOR).
The EOR team is a symbol that the refugee crisis in the world is real and growing. Those 10 athletes at the Brazil Olympics came from countries torn by political conflict and poverty. Their native countries were South Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, and Syria. They competed in 7 events. Rose Lokonyen from South Sudan was the flag bearer as they entered the stadium. Her family were refugees due to the civil war in her native country. She ran barefoot in her first qualifying race for the 800m event. Popole Misenga, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the flag bearer in the closing ceremony. He completed in Judo. Before his appearance in Brazil, he had been defrauded twice by coaches.
In the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, 24 athletes competed for the EOR team. The countries represented in the 2016 Olympics were joined by Eritrea, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Iraq. They completed in nine events.
Yusra Mardini, a refugee from Syria, perhaps best represents the challenges faced by refugee athletes. Her home was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War. She and her sister chose to flee Syria through Lebanon and Turkey. They then joined with other refugees to enter Greece by sea. The boat took on water due to having more than double the number of passengers it could safely handle. Yusra and her sister jumped into the water and pushed the boat for three hours until they were able to land on the island of Lesbos. From there she traveled by foot to Germany. She was selected to be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Yusra’s story is now a Netflix film – The Swimmers.
Each of the refugee athletes has a similar story to tell. Their’s are stories of unbelievably hard and unimaginable perseverance but most of all, hope. At a time when many athletes in the U.S. are pampered, the refugee athletes represent the true human spirit that we can all admire. None of the refugee athletes have yet to win a medal, but they have won much more: a broader societal understanding of the challenging lives of displaced persons.
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“I urge you to celebrate the extraordinary courage and contributions of refugees past and present.” – Kofi Annan (former head of the United Nations)