The Refugee Olympic Team is a group made up of independent Olympic participants who are refugees. In March 2016, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world in order to raise global awareness of the scale of the migrant crisis in Europe. In September 2017, the IOC established the Olympic Refuge Foundation to supporting refugees over the long term.[1][2]

Refugee Olympic Team at the
Olympics
Athletes compete under the Olympic flag.
IOC codeEOR
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
1
Total
1
Summer appearances

The Olympic flag and the Olympic Hymn are used as team symbols. The participating athletes marched in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the team entering the stadium as the penultimate delegation, just before the host country. At the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, the team entered the stadium second after Greece.[3]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, the team used the IOC country code ROT. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, it was changed to EOR (an abbreviation of the French Équipe olympique des réfugiés). As of 2024, no refugee Olympic athletes had participated in the Winter Olympic Games, nor Youth Olympic Games (regardless of Summer or Winter).

The team was awarded the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Sport for giving athletes the opportunity in conflict zones and places where human rights are violated, preventing them from performing their sporting and personal activities.[4]

Cindy Ngamba became the first person to win an Olympic medal for the Refugee Olympic Team, winning a bronze medal in the women's 75kg boxing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[5] Kimia Alizadeh, who represented the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, won bronze at the 2022 European Taekwondo Championships while representing the Refugee Team, after previously winning bronze for Iran at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and before winning bronze for Bulgaria at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Medal tables

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Medals by Summer Games

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Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
2016 Rio de Janeiro 10 0 0 0 0
2020 Tokyo 29 0 0 0 0
2024 Paris 37 0 0 1 1 84
2028 Los Angeles future event
2032 Brisbane
Total 0 0 1 1 151

List of medalists

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Medal Name Games Sport Event
  Bronze Cindy Ngamba 2024 Paris   Boxing Women's middleweight

Participations

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This category was created in March 2016. The selection criteria include the sporting level, the official refugee status verified by the United Nations, the personal situation, and the background of each athlete.

2016 Summer Olympics

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Athlete Country of origin Host NOC Sport Event
James Chiengjiek   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 400 m
Yiech Biel   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 800 m
Paulo Lokoro   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 1500 m
Yonas Kinde   Ethiopia   Luxembourg Athletics Marathon
Popole Misenga   Democratic Republic of Congo   Brazil Judo 90 kg
Rami Anis   Syria   Belgium Swimming 100 m butterfly
Rose Lokonyen   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 800 m
Anjelina Lohalith   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 1500 m
Yolande Mabika   Democratic Republic of Congo   Brazil Judo 70 kg
Yusra Mardini   Syria   Germany Swimming 100 m butterfly

2020 Summer Olympics

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At its meeting in Buenos Aires in October 2018, the International Olympic Committee decided to establish the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) for the 2020 Summer Olympics. This decision built on the legacy of the Refugee Olympic Team in 2016 and was part of the IOC's commitment to play its part in addressing the global refugee crisis and in carrying the message of solidarity and hope to millions of refugee athletes around the world.

The IOC Session tasked Olympic Solidarity with establishing the conditions of participation and defining the team identification and selection process. These elements were carried out in close collaboration with the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the International Sports Federations, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). On 20 June 2019, the IOC released the list of Refugee Athlete Scholarship holders who wished to join the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, Tokyo 2020. This announcement was made on World Athlete Day, celebrated every year on 20 June.

The 56 Refugee Athlete Scholarship holders include the 10 athletes who were part of the first Refugee Olympic Team in 2016, new individual athletes, and a group of athletes preparing at the Tegla Loroupe Refugee Training Center in Kenya. All were assisted by Olympic Solidarity as part of its support program for refugee athletes. The IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Games consisted of 29 athletes—19 men and 10 women—hailing from 11 nations: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. These athletes competed across 12 sports: athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, canoeing, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling.[6]

Swimmer Yusra Mardini, who competed in the 2016 Rio Games as part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, and marathon runner Tachlowini Gabriyesos were selected as flag bearers for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Games.[7]

Athlete Country of origin Host NOC Sport Event
Alaa Maso   Syria   Germany Swimming 50 m freestyle
Yusra Mardini   Syria   Germany Swimming 100 m butterfly
Dorian Keletela   Congo   Portugal Athletics 100 m
Rose Lokonyen   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 800 m
James Chiengjiek   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 800 m
Anjelina Lohalith   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 1500 m
Paulo Amotun Lokoro   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics 1500 m
Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed   Sudan   Israel Athletics 5000 m
Tachlowini Gabriyesos   Eritrea   Israel Athletics Marathon
Aram Mahmoud   Syria   Netherlands Badminton Men's singles
Wessam Salamana   Syria   Germany Boxing 63 kg
Eldric Sella   Venezuela   Trinidad and Tobago Boxing 75 kg
Saeid Fazloula   Iran   Germany Canoeing K-1 1000 m
Masomah Ali Zada   Afghanistan   France Cycling Time Trial
Ahmad Wais   Syria    Switzerland Cycling Time Trial
Sanda Aldass   Syria   Netherlands Judo Mixed team
Ahmad Alikaj   Syria   Germany Judo Mixed team
Muna Dahouk   Syria   Netherlands Judo Mixed team
Javad Mahjoub   Iran   Canada Judo Mixed team
Popole Misenga   DR Congo   Brazil Judo Mixed team
Nigara Shaheen   Afghanistan   Russia Judo Mixed team
Wael Shueb   Syria   Germany Karate Kata
Hamoon Derafshipour   Iran   Canada Karate Kumite
Luna Solomon   Eritrea    Switzerland Shooting 10 m air rifle
Dina Pouryounes   Iran   Netherlands Taekwondo 49 kg
Kimia Alizadeh   Iran   Germany Taekwondo 57 kg
Abdullah Sediqi   Afghanistan   Belgium Taekwondo 68 kg
Cyrille Fagat Tchatchet II   Cameroon   Great Britain Weightlifting 96 kg
Aker Al-Obaidi   Iraq   Austria Wrestling 67 kg

2024 Summer Olympics

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Athlete Country of origin Host NOC Sport Event
Dorian Keletela   Republic of the Congo   France Athletics Men's 100 m
Musa Suliman   Sudan    Switzerland Athletics Men's 800 m
Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu   South Sudan    Switzerland Athletics Men's 5000 m
Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed   Sudan   Israel Athletics Men's 10,000 m
Tachlowini Gabriyesos   Eritrea   Israel Athletics Men's marathon
Mohammad Amin Alsalami   Syria   Germany Athletics Men's long jump
Perina Lokure Nakang   South Sudan   Kenya Athletics Women's 800 m
Farida Abaroge   Ethiopia   France Athletics Women's 1500 m
Dorsa Yavarivafa   Iran   Great Britain Badminton Women's singles
Omid Ahmadisafa   Iran   Germany Boxing Men's flyweight (51 kg)
Cindy Ngamba   Cameroon   Great Britain Boxing Women's middleweight (75 kg)
Manizha Talash   Afghanistan   Spain Breaking B-Girls
Amir Rezanejad   Iran   Germany Canoeing Men's slalom C-1
Fernando Jorge   Cuba   United States Canoeing Men's sprint C-1 1000 m
Saeid Fazloula   Iran   Germany Canoeing Men's sprint K-1 1000 m
Saman Soltani   Iran   Austria Canoeing Women's sprint K-1 500 m
Amir Ansari   Afghanistan   Great Britain Cycling Men's road time trial
Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru   Ethiopia   France Cycling Women's road race
Mohammad Rashnonezhad   Iran   Netherlands Judo Men's −60 kg, Mixed team
Arab Sibghatullah   Afghanistan   Germany Judo Men's −81 kg, Mixed team
Adnan Khankan   Syria   Germany Judo Men's −100 kg, Mixed team
Muna Dahouk   Syria   Netherlands Judo Women's −57 kg, Mixed team
Nigara Shaheen   Afghanistan   Canada Judo Women's −63 kg, Mixed team
Mahboubeh Barbari Zharfi   Iran   Germany Judo Women's +78 kg, Mixed team
Edilio Centeno Nieves   Venezuela   Mexico Shooting Men's 10 m air pistol
Luna Solomon   Eritrea    Switzerland Shooting Women's 10 m air rifle
Alaa Maso   Syria   Germany Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle
Matin Balsini   Iran   Great Britain Swimming Men's 200 m butterfly
Hadi Tiranvalipour   Iran   Italy Taekwondo Men's −58 kg
Yahya Al Ghotany   Syria   Jordan Taekwondo Men's −68 kg
Farzad Mansouri   Afghanistan   Great Britain Taekwondo Men's −80 kg
Kasra Mehdipournejad   Iran   Germany Taekwondo Men's +80 kg
Dina Pouryounes   Iran   Netherlands Taekwondo Women's −49 kg
Ramiro Mora Romero   Cuba   Great Britain Weightlifting Men's −102 kg
Yekta Jamali   Iran   Germany Weightlifting Women's −81 kg
Iman Mahdavi   Iran   Italy Wrestling Men's freestyle −74 kg
Jamal Valizadeh   Iran   France Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman −60 kg

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "IOC Refugee Olympic Team". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Refugee Olympic Team to Shine Spotlight On Worldwide Refugee Crisis". International Olympic Committee. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: The magical moments". Inside The Games.
  4. ^ "Refugee Olympic team awarded prestigious Spanish prize". The Washington Post. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Paris 2024: Cindy Ngamba makes history as first refugee to secure Olympic medal, reaches boxing semi-finals". Olympics. 4 August 2024.
  6. ^ "IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Yusra Mardini and Tachlowini Gabriyesos announced as flagbearers of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team". International Olympic Committee. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
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