On July 23, 2021, the Tokyo Olympic Games officially opened. At the opening ceremony, the refugee Olympic team, which appeared after Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic movement, attracted the attention of the world.
The delegation, made up of just 29 people, represented 82.4 million refugees from around the world on the stage of the Tokyo Olympics, led by a woman from Kenya, former world record holder Tegra Lorupe.
It is understood that at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the refugee Olympic team composed of 29 athletes from more than 10 countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan participated in the competition in 12 sports.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > how did this young team come about? </h1>
In fact, this is not the first time that refugee delegations have made their appearance at the Olympics.
In recent years, the displacement of millions of people has become more acute as a result of the global refugee crisis. As President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach has always believed that sport is the lingua franca of the world, so under his leadership, in October 2015, the Olympic Refugee Team was officially announced.
Bach hopes that this refugee representative team will attract the world's attention to the seriousness of the refugee crisis and make this representative team the hope of refugees all over the world. Bach has always believed that refugees are also the wealth of human society, and although their lives have tragedies that are unimaginable to ordinary people, they can still contribute to human society through their spiritual strength.
< H1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > what are the eligibility for athletes of the refugee team? </h1>
Can athletes from refugee delegations change their nationality and compete like other countries? First of all, to be clear, of course not! Before answering this question, we must first know what a refugee is.
According to the definition given by the UNITED Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a refugee is a person who has been forced to flee his or her country as a result of war, violence or persecution. The prerequisite for becoming a member of the refugee team is to have UN refugee status.
Over the past few years, the athletes who have been selected to become candidates for the refugee team have been training with the support of the Olympic Solidarity Fund, and Tegra Lorupe, a well-known marathon female athlete from Kenya, has also participated in the training of the refugee team.
How did the refugee delegation < H1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >? </h1>
Ten months later, less than a year after its establishment, the refugee team competed for the Rio Olympics, and 10 athletes from 4 countries appeared on the Olympic stage for the first time as members of the Olympic refugee team.
However, their record was mediocre, with only a few people winning the preliminary group in the entire Olympic Games, and the best result was judo player Misenga reaching the round of 16 in the 90 kg class, without winning a medal.
Although the refugee delegation did not achieve excellent results at the Rio Olympic Games, Bach's determination and enthusiasm for supporting the refugee team did not diminish.
Over the next five years, Bach continued to push the IOC's resources and policies in favor of the refugee team. In September 2017, the IOC officially established the Refugee Foundation to help more refugees integrate with the world through sport and society.
In 2018, the IOC's Funding Scheme for Refugee Athletes was officially established, which has already funded more than fifty athletes. This year, the Olympic Agenda 2020+5 was adopted. The Agenda not only recognized the serious refugee crisis in the world today, but also established a special fund for relief projects through sport, totaling $2 million.
All of the above shows Bach's intention for the refugee team. However, in the face of such a hard-working Bach, the reaction of the refugee team in terms of results is still like a stone sinking into the sea.
At the just-concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the refugee team still did not win a medal. Of course, we can't simply measure the significance of this particular team by the number of medals.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > actively give back to society</h1>
As described on the Olympic website, the Refugee Olympic Team has become a symbol of sport's strength, hope, determination to face adversity and peace beyond war. As the refugee team continues to grow, we are also pleased to see that more and more members of the refugee team are doing everything in their power to help more refugees.
The beautiful little sister pictured below is Euthra Maldini, who initiated and organized a swimming camp in Berlin, Germany, to help water-afraid refugee children learn to swim, and her other identity is the swimmer of the Rio Olympics Refugee Olympic Team.
Wrestler Amir El Awad also opened the Syrian Sports Academy in Alexandria, Egypt, offering courses in karate, taekwondo, self-defense, gymnastics, Zumba and wrestling for different refugee communities.
Over the past five years, the athletes of the refugee delegation have braved the difficulties and obstacles to climb the Olympic peak. This is the power of sport and the longing for peace.
We look forward to the refugee Olympic team to achieve a breakthrough of zero medals in the subsequent competitions, and also let the world see more possibilities for this 80 million refugee group.