Beijing News (trainee reporter Chen Yikai) In the women's 100m butterfly preliminaries held on July 24, Yusra Maldini's performance was not satisfactory, ranking at the bottom of the ranking and failing to reach the semi-finals. Despite this, she managed to attract attention from all over the world, both on and off the field.
Perhaps for an athlete like her, the most important game in life isn't even the Olympics. Outside of the Olympics, she has a race for life: a young woman who escapes her war-torn homeland, races against death, and saves many lives with her years-round training in swimming skills and tenacious will.
In 2015, Euthra Maldini used her swimming skills on the high seas to rescue 18 refugees from a refugee ship with a damaged engine, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Maldini fled from his homeland of Syria in the civil war to Greece, but the improvised refugee ship they were on failed in the middle of the engine, and Maldini and her sister jumped into the sea with three other refugee ship passengers and swam for 3 hours to push the boat ashore, so that everyone was successfully rescued.
Refugee team player Yusla Maldini competed in the women's 100m butterfly preliminaries at the Tokyo Olympics. / Screenshot of Reuters report
At the Tokyo Olympics, Maldini was one of the 29 members of the IOC refugee delegation. The delegation consisted of refugee athletes from 10 different countries. At the opening ceremony, unlike other Olympians, who appeared under the guidance of their national flags, the refugee delegation appeared with the Olympic flag.
According to the IOC website, this is the second time that the IOC refugee delegation has participated in the Olympic Games, representing tens of millions of displaced people around the world.
At the opening ceremony, the Olympic flag was introduced
Despite social opposition, Massuma Ali Zada set up a cycling group for girls in Afghanistan. But as part of Hazara, an ethnic minority ravas plagued by violent terror, she eventually had to flee to France in 2016.
At the age of 12, Tagilovini Gabriesos fled with his friends in Eritrea, Africa. They trekked through the Sinai Desert and took off their shoes every night before going to bed, turning their toes in the direction of their advances to avoid getting lost the next day. Gabriethos eventually met his running coach in a refugee camp in Israel.
Vajle worked as a karate instructor in an amateur amateur at a textile factory in damascus, syria, before escaping to Turkey by rubber boat, then cycling through Macedonia before continuing his life and training in Germany.
In 2002, Angelina Nady Loharis and her aunt fled war-torn South Sudan to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. She hasn't seen her parents since. Lo Harris was a runner in high school and is still running.
In 2014, Cyril Chachet II, who had escaped from Cameroon, huddled in a bridge hole in Britain, unaccompanied and penniless, and at one point thought of committing suicide.
Now, like swimmer Yusla Maldini, all of them are members of the IOC's refugee Olympic team, fighting alongside Olympic athletes from all over the world.
Masuma Ali Zada competed in the women's individual time trial on road cycling and although she did not finish well, she was very excited. For all those who don't recognize gender equality, she said, it's a declaration that she's going to be able to compete alone in the Olympics.
Marsuma Ali Zada, a refugee delegate, competed in the women's individual time trial on road cycling. / Screenshot of the Guardian report
Tachilovini Gabriiesos will run the men's marathon, where he was also the standard-bearer of the refugee delegation at the opening ceremony; Vaelga will compete in men's karate; and Loh harris' 1500m run has come to an end, regrettably she did not get a good place.
Chatchett's men's 96kg weightlifting competition is also over, and although his performance is still far from the Olympic medal, he laughs happily. Despite a period of "lows" and even suicidal tendencies, Chatchett has now come out of the shadows and become a psychiatric nurse.
Compared to previous Olympic Games, the Tokyo Olympic slogan has added "more unity" after "faster, higher, stronger". But if a specific symbol of the slogan "more solidarity" is to be found, it may not be more appropriate than refugee delegations.
At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the refugee delegation was the second to appear, followed by the Greek delegation representing the birthplace of the Olympic Games. Twenty-nine refugee athletes, including 19 women and 10 men, dressed in striking aquamarine suits, followed by the fluttering Olympic ring flag into the stadium.
On July 23, the opening ceremony of the 32nd Summer Olympic Games was held in Tokyo, Japan, and a delegation of refugees from the Tokyo Olympic Games entered. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
The delegation, originally formed by the IOC for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, was intended to provide opportunities for athletes forced to flee their home countries. At the Rio Olympics, the refugee delegation at the time had 10 members. By the time of the Tokyo Olympics, the membership had increased to 29, 6 of whom had competed in the Rio Olympics.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the refugee delegation competed in 12 major events and 29 minor events, including athletics, badminton, boxing, kayaking, cycling, judo, karate, taekwondo, shooting, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling. However, as of now, the refugee delegation has not won a medal in Tokyo.
Out of 55, 29 refugee athletes were represented
In the summer of 2015, the IOC and marathon legend Tegra Lorupe formed a special refugee emergency fund to help international aid agencies integrate refugees into sport.
The IOC has also pledged to fund a select group of refugee athletes through a scholarship programme to one day be able to step into the Olympic games.
The Refugee Team (left) and Italy cheer each other up with their teammates before the Judo Mixed Team Match on July 31. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
At the Rio Olympics, 10 athletes from South Sudan, Syria and other countries who were forced to flee their homeland due to violent conflict, oppression and civil war were selected by the International Olympic Committee to realize their dream of participating in the Olympic Games.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: "These refugee athletes do not belong to any national team, have no flag and no national anthem, and the Olympic Games will welcome them with the Olympic flag and olympic anthem. They will have a home with all the athletes in the Olympic Village. ”
After the successful participation of refugee delegations in rio in 2016, the IOC added a scholarship program to prepare 55 refugee athletes for the Tokyo Olympics, 29 of whom eventually stood out.
The refugee delegation also had a brilliant performance in Tokyo, where Iran's taekwondo player Kimia Arizad Zenu defeated the two-time Olympic champion of the event in the women's 57 kg taekwondo round of 16. Kimia lost the following semi-finals and bronze medal finals, unfortunately finishing in fourth place, missing the first medal of the refugee delegation at the Olympic Games.
Refugee delegation taekwondo player Kimia Arizad Zenuhu (left) beats the British star at the Tokyo Olympics. / Screenshot of Reuters report
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over everything else in the Games, including refugee delegations.
According to the British "Independent" newspaper, the head of the refugee delegation, Tegra Lorupe, was tested positive for the new crown nucleic acid before leaving for Tokyo, so he could not lead the team to Tokyo. "There's a lot to be shared with the world about these refugee athletes," Lorupe said, "and each of us can learn this resilience from them, that they are strong in the fight for their lives." ”
According to India's Mint newspaper, taekwondo athlete Abdullah Sedic, who escaped on foot from armed gangs in Afghanistan on foot, has sought refuge in Belgium, however, his mother died in the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
UNHCR reports 82.4 million people forcibly displaced
Angelina Nady Loharis, a 1,500-meter runner in the refugee delegation, said, "I'm not just competing for myself, I'm representing 80 million refugees around the world," Vice magazine reported. ”
Loharis said she hoped that participating in the Olympics would "open a path for a vast number of refugees like me."
The main members of the refugee delegation come from hotspots of civil war and political conflict, such as Venezuela, Darfur or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Whether they ultimately win a medal or not, they are like a mirror that there are still large numbers of people in the world forced to leave their homes.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: "The refugee delegation will become a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world and will make the world better aware of the seriousness of the refugee crisis."
A United Nations report found that by the end of 2020, the number of forcibly displaced people had reached record highs as the covid-19 pandemic exacerbated some of the original drivers.
On July 23, a delegation of refugees from the Tokyo Olympics attended the opening ceremony. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
A new report released by the UNHCR on June 18 shows that 82.4 million people worldwide will be forcibly displaced by the end of 2020, the highest number since the record began.
In 2012, that number was just 41 million, and by 2019, that number had reached 79.5 million.
The UN refugee agency says the figure means that more than 1 percent of the world's population, or one in every 95 people, has been forcibly displaced. In comparison, in 2010 it was only one hundred and fifty-nineth of its current level.
"The increasing interconnectedness and mutual reinforcement between poverty, food insecurity, climate change, conflict and displacement are driving more and more people to seek safety and security," the report says.
Al Jazeera reported an upward trend in 2020 in nearly half of the world's reported incidents of conflict and violence, exacerbating the current global refugee crisis by protracted regional conflicts, extreme weather and the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy. In addition, the scale and severity of the food crisis are likely to be further exacerbated.
The predictions for the 2021 food crisis are "equally worrying," according to u.N. news, with countries such as South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic at risk of famine.
In addition, according to the World Bank, the number of people trapped in extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world is expected to rise to unprecedented levels – between 119 million and 124 million.
According to UN News, "It is only a matter of time before the number of forcibly displaced people exceeds 100 million, based on current trends." ”
The IOC refugee delegation has made these global crises no longer lifeless figures, but living people. Each of them has their own heartbreak and final dream come true, showing the world with their personal efforts that refugees also have hope.
Beijing News trainee reporter Chen Yikai
Edited by Lei Zhang Proofreader Lucy