A group of 36 refugees from 11 countries will be representing the Refugee Team at the upcoming Paris Olympics. These athletes were chosen from over 70 scholarships and will compete in 12 different sports, including athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoeing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling. The team’s chef de mission is Masomah Ali Zada of Afghanistan who expressed the importance of having their own emblem that symbolizes the journey back for lost refugees. The team will be known as EOR (Équipe Olympique des Réfugiés), and they aim to proudly represent the over 100 million individuals who share their experiences.
Among the women participating in the team are boxer Cindy Ngamba and Ethiopian runner Farida Abaroge. Iranian taekwondo athlete Kasra Mehdipournejad and Venezuelan shooter Edilio Francisco Centeno Nieves are among the male athletes. Mehdipournejad was thrilled to see his Olympic dream come true. However, a third runner on the team was recently suspended for a positive doping test. The Refugee Team was first established by the IOC for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where there were 10 athletes representing the team with Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini being the first to compete. In Tokyo, the team grew to 29 athletes competing across 12 sports.