Zona de Azar France – Paris 2024: IOC Announces Refugee Olympic Team

Paris.- May 6, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has named the 36 athletes from 11 countries, hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and who will compete in 12 sports as members of the Olympic Team of Refugees for Paris 2024.

The announcement was made by IOC President Thomas Bach during a ceremony broadcast live from the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. By attending the Games for the third time, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team will represent the millions of people who have had to flee their home countries around the world.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in September 2023 there were approximately 114 million forcibly displaced people across the planet.

“We welcome everyone with open arms. You enrich our Olympic Community and our societies. By participating in the Olympic Games, you will demonstrate the human potential for resilience and excellence,” Bach said, while addressing all team members, who had joined the meeting virtually.

“At the same time, they will make billions of people around the world aware of the magnitude of the refugee crisis. So I encourage everyone to join us in cheering on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.”

Composition

The composition of the team was approved by the IOC executive board and was based on several criteria, including, first of all, the sporting performance of each athlete and their refugee status, verified by UNHCR.

A balanced representation of sport and gender, as well as the distribution of countries of origin, was also taken into account.

Refugee Olympic Team chef de mission Masomah Ali Zada, who competed for the Refugee Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020 and was present during today’s ceremony, welcomed the athletes.

“You all had a dream and today your dream of competing in the Olympic Games is closer than ever. With all the challenges you have faced, you now have the opportunity to inspire a new generation, represent something bigger than yourselves and show the world what refugees are capable of,” he commented.

The vast majority of those selected are supported by the IOC through the Scholarship Program for Refugee Athletes, funded by Olympic Solidarity and managed by the Olympic Refugee Foundation.

Emblem

For the first time, the Refugee Olympic Team will compete under its own team emblem. The symbol aims to convey the different stories and experiences shared by athletes on their journeys through its arrow design that indicates a route.

At the center of the emblem is a heart, which comes from the Olympic Refugee Foundation logo, to represent the belonging that the team hopes to inspire and that athletes and displaced people around the world have found through sport.

“This emblem unites us. We are all united by our experience. Although we are all different, we have all traveled a path to get to where we are. Having our own emblem creates a sense of belonging and allows us to also represent the population of more than 100 million people who share this same experience,” said Ali Zada.

Support

Support for refugees and displaced populations remains a priority for the IOC and is part of the Olympic Agenda 2020+5. The Olympic Refugee Foundation was created in 2017 to promote this commitment.

The foundation operates in place of a traditional National Olympic Committee, managing scholarships for refugee athletes and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024. As well as supporting elite athletes in their participation in the Games, it also works to provide safe access to sports for people affected by movement around the world.

Through associations or programs around the world, the entity aims to build a movement through which displaced people can enjoy the benefits of sport, wherever they are, and through which sport can be adopted at all levels as a support tool for refugees.

Since its creation in 2017, the foundation’s work has allowed almost 400,000 young people to access sport safely. More than 1,600 coaches have been trained to deliver safe sports sessions and their programs have supported young people in 11 countries on five continents.

The team, which has 36 athletes from 11 countries and 12 sports, won for the first time an emblem that represents belonging.

Editó @_fonta   www.zonadeazar.com