Refugee team, first at Brazil Olympics

This video says about itself:

18 March 2016

Yusra has dreamt of the Olympics for years. Now a refugee in Germany, she hopes to qualify to compete at the Games in Brazil.

“I want to represent all the refugees because I want to show everyone that, after the pain, after the storm, comes calm days,” she says. “I want to inspire them to do something good in their lives.”

In 2016 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) identified Yusra and 42 others for its team of Refugee Olympic Athletes. If she achieves a qualifying time, Yusra will be among between five and 10 finalists to be announced in June.

None of these athletes would normally be able to participate in the Olympics because their status as refugees has deprived them of a home country to represent. The IOC says the team will march just behind the Olympic flag, and ahead of their Brazilian hosts, at the opening ceremony on 5 August.

Determined Yusra has an extraordinary story – she has already swum to save her life and others – after her overcrowded boat from Turkey failed, she swam to Lesvos, Greece. Yusra’s determination determination and strength saved the lives of 20 other refugees.

Read more here.

From the McClatchy media in the USA:

June 3, 2016 1:26 PM

‘No home, no team, no flag’: first refugee team to compete in Rio Olympics

10 athletes are on the inaugural refugee team

They will compete in swimming, running and judo events

“I will win a medal, and will dedicate it to all refugees”

…

By Teresa Welsh

Yusra Mardini swam for her life from a sinking vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. Now, she’ll be swimming for the gold in Rio.

Mardini, 18, fled the Syrian civil war via sea vessel from Turkey’s shores. When the flimsy boat started taking on water, the swimmer jumped in the water with her sister and began pushing it to the Greek island of Lesvos.

“There were people who didn’t know how to swim,” Mardini said of the approximately 20 other passengers. “It would have been shameful if the people on our boat had drowned. I wasn’t going to sit there and complain that I would drown.”

Mardini, who will swim the 200-meter freestyle, is part of the first refugee team to compete in an Olympic Games. She and nine other athletes selected by the International Olympic Committee will comprise the inaugural refugee team, allowing those from war-torn nations to compete with the world’s best in their sports. Two Syrian swimmers, five South Sudanese track athletes, two judokos [sic; judokas] from the Democratic Republic of Congo and an Ethiopian marathon runner will be on the team.