IOC Announces ITS Refugee Olympic Team
June 11, 2021
This week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revealed the athletes who will make up its Refugee Olympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Games set to start on July 23, 2021. The IOC Refugee Olympic Team will also be known by the French acronym EOR (équipe olympique des réfugiés).
The 29 athletes, coming from 11 countries, were announced during a live virtual ceremony on June 8 and were selected by the IOC’s Executive Board from an initial group of 55 IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders.
They will compete in 12 sports - athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, judo, karate, taekwondo, shooting sport, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling. The athletes have United Nations refugee status while living in various host countries, including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Portugal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
"The refugee athletes are an enrichment for all of us in the entire Olympic community," IOC President Thomas Bach said at the virtual ceremony. "The reasons we created this team still exist. We have more forcibly displaced people in the world right now, and therefore it went without saying that we wanted to create an IOC Refugee Olympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."
The Refugee Olympic Team made its debut in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, after confronted with the global refugee crisis at the United Nations General Assembly in October 2015. The goal was to send a message of hope and solidarity to millions of refugees around the world and inspire people from all walks of life with the strength of their spirit.
The 10 athletes captured the attention of the world through their inspirational journeys and performances. Six of those athletes – swimmer Yusra Mardini, judoka Popole Misenga and runners Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (1,500m), James Nyang Chiengjiek (800m), Paulo Amotun Lokoro (1,500m) and Rose Nathike Likonyen (800m) – will be part of the team again in Tokyo.
"The athletes represent not only themselves, not only the IOC but also all refugees in the world," IOC Refugee Olympic Team Chef de Mission Tegla Loroupe added. "Let's bring solidarity, as we are solidarity people.
During the Opening Ceremony, the team will enter second, immediately following Greece, under the Olympic flag. For all official representations of the team, the Olympic flag will be raised, and the Olympic anthem will be played.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said, "The participation of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in the Tokyo 2020 Games, which will be both a festival of sport and a celebration of peace, will draw the world's attention to the issue of refugees and further advance efforts to achieve world peace through the elimination of the wars and conflicts that cause people to flee their homeland."
The historic participation of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 also prompted the creation of the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) in September 2017, as the next chapter in the IOC’s long-term commitment to supporting the protection, development and empowerment of displaced young people through sport 365 days a year across the globe.