The International Olympic Committee has for the first time announced an all-refugee team for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, IANS reported. Officially called the Refugee Olympic Team, 10 refugees – six men and four women – will march together behind a new flag that will represent athletes who have escaped conflict-riddled countries in the opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium on August 5.
"They will form a team unlike any other that has competed in the Olympic Games before... giving hope to people displaced by war and social unrest all over the world," the official Rio 2016 website said. The team includes athletes from South Sudan, Syria, Congo and Ethiopia. They will participate in track and field events, swimming and judo.
The team includes Syrian swimmers Yusra Mardini, and Rami Anis, South Sudanese runners Yiech Pur Biel, James Nyang Chiengjiek, Anjelina Nada Lohalith, Rose Nathike Lokonyen and Paulo Amotun Lokoro, Congolese judokas Yolande Bukasa Mabika and Popole Misenga, and Ethiopian marathon runner Yonas Kinde.
Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, a former marathon world record holder, will be the team’s chief. Apart from them, the delegation also includes five coaches.
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