The Refugee Team for the Paris Olympics will consist of 36 athletes from 11 countries participating in 12 different sports. Chosen from over 70 scholarships, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach revealed the team at the announcement on Thursday. Instead of competing under the Olympic flag, the refugees will have their own emblem, featuring a heart surrounded by arrows representing how lost refugees can find their way back. The team will be known as EOR, short for the French name Equipe Olympique des Refugies.
The team chef de mission, Masomah Ali Zada from Afghanistan, spoke about the importance of having their own emblem, creating a sense of belonging and empowerment for the more than 100 million people who share a similar experience. She expressed her excitement in proudly wearing it. A total of 23 men and 13 women will compete in athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoeing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling when the Games begin on July 24. Notable athletes include boxer Cindy Ngamba and Ethiopian runner Farida Abaroge among the women, and Kasra Mehdipournejad from Iran in taekwondo and Edilio Francisco Centeno Nieves from Venezuela in shooting among the men.
Mehdipournejad expressed his excitement for his Olympic dream coming true. However, on Tuesday, a third runner on the team was suspended for a positive doping test. The refugee team was initially created by the IOC for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to provide asylum for athletes who have been forced to leave their home countries. In Rio, there were 10 athletes on the team, with Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini becoming the first to compete. Three years ago in Tokyo, the team grew to 29 athletes across 12 sports._.