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What Is the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?
The Refugee Olympic Team in 2024 consists of 37 athletes from 11 different nations competing in 12 various events.
One of the many thrills of the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris is seeing athletes in the parade of nations.
But for only the third time in history, the International Olympics Committee's Refugee Olympic Team — which represents “more than 100 million displaced people around the world,” announcers said during the opening — will also be competing.
The Refugee Olympic Team goes by the abbreviation EOR, which stands for Equipe Olympique des Réfugiés — the French term for Refugee Olympic Team. The IOC created the team to ensure that people displaced from their home countries can have access and funding to participate in sports at the highest level.
Speaking at a virtual meeting in May, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said that the team would serve as a message of hope for refugees worldwide, Newsweek reported.
"We welcome all of you with open arms. You are an enrichment to our Olympic Community, and to our societies," he said.
Who is on the Refugee Olympic Team during the Paris 2024 Olympics?
The Refugee Olympic Team this year consists of 37 athletes from 11 different nations. That’s the largest team assembled to date, Reuters reported.
They come from 11 different countries of origin: Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea, the Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Venezuela and Cuba, Newsweek reported.
In Paris, they will compete in 12 different sports.
They are:
- Adnan Khankan, originally from Syria, competing in Judo
- Alaa Maso, originally from Syria, competing in Swimming
- Amir Anari, born in Iran and a refugee from Afghanistan, competing in Cycling Road
- Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani, originally from Iran, competing in Canoe Slalom
- Arab Sibghatullah, originally from Afghanistan, competing in Judo
- Cindy Ngamba, originally from Cameroon, competing in Boxing
- Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi, originally from Iran, competing in Taekwondo
- Dorian Keletela, originally from Congo, competing in Athletics
- Dorsa Yavarivafa, originally from Iran, competing in Badminton
- Eyeru Gebru, originally from Ethiopia, competing in Cycling Road
- Farida Abaroge, originally from Ethiopia, competing in Athletics
- Farzad Mansouri, originally from Afghanistan, competing in Taekwondo
- Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez, originally from Cuba, competing in Canoe Sprint
- Francisco Edilio Centeno Nieves, originally from Venezuela, competing in Shooting
- Hadi Tiranvalipour, originally from Iran, competing in Taekwondo
- Iman Mahdavi, originally from Iran, competing in Wrestling
- Jamal Abdelmaji, originally from Darfur, Sudan, competing in Athletics
- Jamal Valizadeh, originally from Iran, competing in Wrestling, Greco-Roman
- Kasra Mehdipournejad, originally from Iran, competing in Taekwondo
- Luna Solomon, originally from Eritrea, competing in Shooting
- Mahboubeh Barbari Yharfi, originally from Iran, competing inJudo
- Manizha Talash, originally from Afghanistan, competing in Breaking
- Matin Balsini, originally from Iran, competing in Swimming
- Mohammad Amin Alsalami, originally from Syria, competing in Athletics
- Mohammad Rashnonezhad, originally from Iran, competing in Judo
- Muna Dahouk, originally from Syria, competing in Judo
- Musa Suliman, originally from Sudan, competing in Athletics
- Nigara Shaheen, originally from Afghanistan, competing in Judo
- Omid Ahmadisafa, originally from Iran, competing in Boxing
- Perina Lokure Nakang, originally from South Sudan, competing in Athletics
- Ramiro Mora, originally from Cuba, competing in Weightlifting
- Saeid Fazloula, originally from Iran, competing in Canoe Sprint
- Saman Soltani, originally from Iran, competing in Canoe Sprint
- Tachlowini Gabriyesos, originally from Eritrea,competing in Athletics
- Yahya Al Ghotany, originally from Syria, competing in Taekwondo
- Yekta Jamali Galeh, originally from Iran, competing in Weightlifting
When did the IOC start the Refugee Olympic Team?
The IOC unveiled its first refugee team for the Rio 2016 Games with 10 athletes.
The team that competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics —held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — had 29 athletes.
What is the name of the movie about members of the Olympic Refugee Team?
There was a lightly fictionalized film made about one the athletes called The Swimmers, which was released in 2022. It recounted the stories of athlete Yusra Mardini and her sister, Sarah.
Yusra competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics in swimming, and served as the IOC Refugee Olympic Team flag bearer in Tokyo.
She and Sarah had fled Syria in 2015, ultimately finding themselves on a small dinghy heading for Greece. When the boat began taking on water in the middle of the Aegean Sea, the two sisters and two other refugees jumped in the water and pulled it for three hours until they made landfall on the island of Lesbos.
