Rio De Janeiro - A special refugees team has been selected to take part in the Rio Games alongside regular delegations representing IOC member NOCs.
It will comprise 10 members and 12 officials who will compete under the Olympic banner. The athletes hail from South Sudan (5), Syria (2), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2) and Ethiopia (1). They will be competing in swimming, judo and athletics events with eight out of 10 members of African origin.
The five South Sudanese, all of them refugees in Kenya, include Yiech Pur Biel (men's 800m), James Nyang Chiengjiek (men's 400m), Paulo Amotun Lokoro (men's 1500m), Rose Nathike Lokonyen (women's 800m) and Anjelina Nada Lohalith (women's 1500m). Judokas Popole Misenga (-90 kg) and Yolande Bukasa Mabika (-70 kg), both of them refugees in Brazil, hail from DR Congo. Marathon man Yonas Kinde, who lives in Luxembourg, is from Ethiopia.
The two Syrian swimmers, Rami Anis (refugee in Belgium) and Yusra Mardini (living in Germany) complete the list of 10 selected from an initial forty-three identified promising athletes, according to the IOC. The team will be supervised by a staff of administrators and technicians that shall be overseen by former Olympic marathon champion, Kenya's Tegla Loroupe, appointed as Chef de Mission.
It also includes Robert Mutsauki (Zimbabwe), Eunice Hasango Kaumbi and Joseph Domongole (coach) both from Kenya. They will be working with administrators and technicians from other continents.
The IOC, which selected the team, did so in consultation with their host NOCs and the NOCs of their countries of origin, International Federations and the UN High Commission for Refugees.
According to the IOC President, Thomas Bach, the selected refugee Olympic team, a first in the annals of Olympism, “will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of the crisis”. - African News Agency (ANA)