Parfait Hakizimana is a Burundian parataekwondo practitioner who currently resides in Rwanda. He is representing the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the under 61 kg category, Taekwondo. The Refugee Paralympic Team embodies determination and resilience. And none more so than Parfait Hakizimana. The Taekwondo star is set to compete with the best at the Paralympic Games.
Competitors in the #RefugeeParalympicTeam take part in events at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. In the pool swimmer Abbas Karimi has the chance to become the first Paralympic refugee team member ever to win a medal after qualifying Friday morning in the men’s S5 50m butterfly. Alia Issa finished 8th in her competition.
The Refugee Olympic Team made its first appearance at the 2016 games. Ten athletes, hailing from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo took part in the Rio event five years ago. And now, for the first time, a Refugee Paralympic Team is competing in Tokyo. The athletes, one woman and five men, will compete in a range of sports including athletics, swimming, canoeing and taekwondo. Two members of the team, Shahrad Nasajpour and Ibrahim Al Hussein, took part in the 2016 Paralympics as Independent Paralympic Athletes. Club thrower Alia Issa becomes the first female to be named part of a refugee team at the Paralympic Games. The team is completed by taekwondo star Parfait Hakizimana, canoeist Anas Al Khalifa and swimmer Abbas Karimi.
“I come from a war-torn country. That’s why we need you to get behind us now to cheer us on when we compete against the world.” Ibrahim Al Hussein is a Para swimmer and will be competing in two events at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic games
After a refugee team featured for a second time at an Olympic Games in Tokyo, six athletes will also compete this month as part of the Refugee Paralympic Team.
Matt Stutzman was born without arms and always wanted to be a professional athlete. He practised basketball for years but knew he wouldn’t make the NBA league. Then he found archery and his life changed forever. He won a silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics and now he’s aiming for gold in Tokyo.
Leading the parade of nations into the stadium in Tokyo, the Refugee Paralympic Team proudly kicked off the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, representing both the 82.4 million people displaced globally and the estimated 12 million among them living with disabilities.
Ahead of the opening of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Tuesday, Alphonso Davies, footballer for German league champions Bayern Munich and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), has offered words of encouragement for what he called “the world’s most courageous sports team”.
The Refugee Paralympic Team competes under the Olympic Flag. Alia Issa, a refugee from Syria will be the flag bearer alongside Abbas Karimi.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have announced the six athletes who will represent the Refugee Paralympic Team at Tokyo 2020 in 2021. The Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 take place between 24 August and 5 September 2021.