Thirty-six athletes from 11 different countries, hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees and competing across 12 sports were named today as members of the International Olympic Committee Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024.
Refugee Olympic Team
Refugee Athletes and the 2024 Olympic Games
The 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris from Friday, 26 July 2024 – Sunday, 11 Aug 2024. the International Olympic Committee through its Olympic Solidarity programme dedicated to refugee athletes, has started awarding scholarships. The process is being managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation. To date, 73 Refugee Athletes Scholarship-holders are being supported and training hard in order to be selected for the Olympic Games in Paris. They are from 12 countries and live in 24 host countries. They represent 14 sports.
Refugee Paralympians leave legacy of hope as Tokyo Games conclude
After competing with pride and receiving an outpouring of support in Japan and beyond, the Refugee Paralympic Team showed the power of inclusion for displaced people with disabilities.
First Woman on Paralympic Refugee Team
At the Tokyo Paralympics Alia Issa of Greece, who became the first woman to compete as a member of the Paralympic Refugee team, also served as a flagbearer during the Opening Ceremony.
Refugee athletes Parfait Hakizimana and Anas Al Khalifa defy the odds in Tokyo
Two members of the Refugee Paralympic Team who have had incredible journeys to get to Tokyo are in action on Thursday (2 September) at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. For both Al Khalifa and Hakizimana, just competing in Tokyo is already a big victory.
UNHCR celebrates trailblazing team of refugee Para athletes at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, sends its best wishes to the Refugee Paralympic Team ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Tuesday. The team sends a message of hope to the more than 82 million displaced people around the world, including an estimated 12 million living with a disability.
The Refugee Paralymic Team
Of the world’s 82.4 million refugees, 15 per cent – or 12 million people – live with a disability. Bringing attention to this group this month will be six athletes who have been selected as part of the Refugee Paralympic Team.
Shahrad Nasajpour – Refugee Olympic Team
Nasajpour was born with cerebral palsy that left him with some mobility limitations on his left side. In 2015 he left Iran for the USA. He attended the Rio 206 Paralympics as an Independent Refugee Athlete. He is now a member of the Refugee Paralympic Team in Tokyo 2020.
Meet Anas Al Khalifa – Paracanoe (KL1, VL2 class)
Anas Al Khalifa fled the war in Syria and lived in camps before reaching Germany. In 2018, he suffered a spinal cord injury in a workplace accident. He is one of six members of the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Abbas Karimi – Paralympic Swimmer
Mohammad Abbas Karimi is a swimmer, who came second in the S5 50 meter butterfly event at the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships, making him the first refugee athlete to win a medal at that competition. He has won national championship events in Afghanistan, Turkey and the US. He came eighth in the 50 meter butterfly S5 event for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.