Forced to vacate homeland but determined to make a mark in Paris Olympics, meet the Refugee Team

New Delhi: The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics has marked it’s return to the French capital after a gap of 100 years. With the start of the Paris 2024 Games just a day away, a glittering opening ceremony on Friday night will kick-off the event officially.

Athletes from more than 200 nations which participate in as many as 32 sporting disciplines over the next fortnight. While everything is said and done regarding the showpiece event, this will be the third successive Summer Games featuring a contingent comprising refugees. You must be wondering that what is a contingent comprising refugees doing at the Olympics. Read further.

Refugee Team at Olympics

The Refugee Olympic Team came into existence in the year 2015, with their first Games at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The refugee team participated at the 2016 Games with a 10-member contingent with an aim to create a niche and make a mark at the biggest sporting stage. The 10-member contingent grew to a 29-member contingent at the Tokyo Olympics and now, a 37-member team in Paris will take part in disciplines such as swimming, canoeing, wrestling and taekwondo.

Coming from war-ravaged zones from different parts of the globe and facing hardships and poverty on the way, the athletes part of the refugee team have made numerous sacrifices and faced a lot of problems to make it to the biggest stage of the sports. The IOC refugee Team’s sole purpose is to represent more than 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. To address the worldwide refugee crises that saw millions of people in the world displaced, IOC president Thomas Bach announced the creation of the team back in 2015.

The team at the last two editions of the Summer Games has send a great signal about what an enrichment refugees are for our Olympic community and for society at large and will continue to do so in the upcoming editions, with the first focus on Paris.

Full Coverage on Paris Olympics 2024

Know All About Paris Olympics 2024 Players

 The refugee team is set to make a mark at the Paris Olympics in what will be their third appearance at Summer Games.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today