Refugee athletes ready for big debut in Brazil Games
Refugees Olympic Athletes take a break after training at the High Performance Training Centre at Kazi Mingi Farm in Eldoret on July 12, 2016. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |
What you need to know:
- IOC to meet logistics, technical and coaching needs of 10-man team
- The Kenya-based Refugee Olympics Team is set to depart for Rio and will be headed by Kenya’s former world marathon record-holder Tegla Loroupe as chef de mission.
For the very first time in the history of the Olympic Games, there will be a special appearance of refugees at the Rio Games with the squad of Refugees Olympic Athletes (ROA) that has been training in Kenya departing on Thursday to Brazil.
The group of 10 athletes was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and will compete under the Olympic flag and the Olympic anthem will be played in their honour, and whenever they win medals.
The Kenya-based Refugee Olympics Team is set to depart for Rio and will be headed by Kenya’s former world marathon record-holder Tegla Loroupe as chef de mission.
The team selected from Kenya has been training at the Ngong Hills in Nairobi Kenya and also got a chance to join the Team Kenya in Eldoret.
This recent idea to build a refugees team to participate in Rio Olympics come at a point when the world has registered the largest number of (about 60 million at last count) people forced to flee their home countries in fear of wars or persecution.
UNTAPPED TALENT
Their inclusion at the Olympics is, therefore meant to show the global community a glimpse of the immense untapped talent lying in refugee camps and bring attention to the unprecedented magnitude of the refugee crisis witnessed recently.
“This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society,” said IOC president Thomas Bach.
The team selected include five middle-distance runners (400m, two in 800m and two and 1500m) from South Sudan, two judokas (90kg and 70kg) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two Syrian swimmers (100m men butterfly and 200m women freestyle) and a marathoner from Ethiopia.
The IOC will play the role of a nation through financing all the logistical, technical and coaching needs of the team since they represent no nation.
“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, and no national anthem. We will therefore finance them,” said IOC president Thomas Bach in a statement.
