It’s official: 36 athletes will be part of the International Olympic Committee’s Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024, representing the world population displaced by armed and political conflicts from their countries of origin.
The 36 athletes come from 11 different nations and are currently hosted by 15 different National Olympic Committees. In Paris 2024, they will compete in 12 sports: swimming, athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, boating, cycling, judo, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, made the announcement today Thursday at a ceremony held at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. “We welcome everyone with open arms. They are an enrichment for our Olympic Community and for our societies,” he said in his speech.
blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The IOC President, an Olympic champion himself, gets emotional as he announces the IOC @RefugeesOlympic Team for #Paris2024 - a team that will represent more than 100 million displaced people around the world. pic.twitter.com/9ptceDKo4j
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) May 2, 2024
The IOC Refugee Olympic Team is competing for the third consecutive edition, after its previous participation in Rio 2016 (10 athletes) and Tokyo 2020 (29 athletes). This year, its head of mission will be Masomah Ali Zada, a former athlete who competed for this team in Tokyo 2020.
“By participating in the Olympic Games, they demonstrate the human potential for endurance and excellence,” said Bach. For the first time, the team will compete with its own emblem.