The refugee crew for the Tokyo Olympics consists of 29 athletes competing in 12 sports activities.
The crew, chosen by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday, was chosen from 55 athletes who fled their house nations and acquired scholarships to coach for the Games in a brand new nation.
29 – a rise from 10 within the inaugural refugee crew on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics – are initially from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo, Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela.
They will compete in swimming, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, biking, judo, karate, taking pictures, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.
“You are an integral part of our Olympic community, and we welcome you with open arms.”
Announcing their choice, IOC President Thomas Bach instructed the athletes they’d “send a powerful message of solidarity, resilience and hope to the world.”
The crew might be managed by officers from the IOC in Tokyo and UNHCR, the UN’s Geneva-based refugee company.
UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi mentioned in an announcement: “Surviving war, persecution and concern for deportation make them extraordinary people already, but the fact that they now excel as athletes on the world stage, me Fills me with great pride.”
Refugee athletes will compete towards 206 nationwide groups with the identifier EOR for the French abbreviation of the crew title. The Tokyo Olympics are from July 23 to August. 8.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
