Tokyo Olympics: IOC Refugee Team first full squad named for 2020 Games
- Chef de Mission Tegla Loroupe says the Covid-19 pandemic has ‘turned all the world’s population into refugees’ as they battle the global scourge
- The 29 athletes have their origins in 10 countries and have been selected from the IOC’s Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes programme
“We are all refugees because we are confined inside our small houses, we are protecting our noses, we are all wearing blue [face masks],” said Loroupe, a former world record holder who won the 2005 Hong Kong Marathon. “Whether we are the IOC president [Thomas Bach], we are refugees, we are anybody, we are wearing the same thing.”
As countries prepare their squads amid doubts about travelling to Japan where Covid-19 pandemic emergency measures are still in force, the Refugee team became the first official squad to be named for the July 23 to August 8 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Bach unveiled the 29 athletes from 10 countries who were selected from among dozens of refugee athletes supported by the IOC through the Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes programme. The IOC hopes the squad’s presence in Tokyo will send a powerful message of solidarity and raise awareness to the plight of more than 80 million displaced people worldwide.
Loroupe returns as Chef de Mission for the team – a role she performed when the Refugee team made their Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Bach described watching the team from the tunnel at the 2016 opening ceremony as one of the most emotional moments of his sporting life.
“Getting to know the athletes, getting to know the personal stories, how some of the young athletes risked their lives and gave up everything,” said Bach during a virtual announcement ceremony on Tuesday attended by most of the selected athletes.
“They have gone through moments of terrible humiliation and come out of it with such strength and energy and optimism. It is an experience that is hard to describe and it’s an enrichment for everybody who can share in this, to be with these refugee athletes and it is an enrichment for all of us in the Olympic community.”
The 29 athletes have their origins in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Iran, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela and are hosted by the National Olympic Committees of various other countries.
Grandi continued: “Surviving war, persecution and the anxiety of exile already makes them extraordinary people, but the fact that they now also excel as athletes on the world stage fills me with immense pride. It shows what is possible when refugees are given the opportunity to make the most of their potential”
The team will compete under the Olympic flag. At the Opening Ceremony on 23 July the athletes will enter the stadium in second position immediately after Greece.
The delegation includes 20 coaches and team officials, while Olympic Solidarity will cover travel and other expenses for the team. The squad will meet for the first time as a team at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar for preparations before flying to Japan on July 14.
During the Games, the team will be hosted by Waseda University, which will provide accommodation and training facilities, before the athletes move to the Olympic Village for their respective competitions.
Six of the 10 athletes who competed as refugees in Rio are part of the Tokyo Games squad – swimmer Yusra Mardini, judoka Popole Misenga and runners Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (1,500m), James Nyang Chiengjiek (800m), Paulo Amotun Lokoro (1,500m) and Rose Nathike Likonyen (800m).
