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Celebrating Refugee Talents: The 2024 Refugee Olympic Team

Estelle Erwich Headshot

Refugees and forcibly displaced athletes have their lives – including their careers in professional sports – disrupted by conflict and forced displacement challenges. Many lose the chance to pursue their aspirations of representing their home nations on the world's biggest athletic stage. However, the 2024 Paris Olympics provides elite refugee athletes with the chance to compete at the highest level while representing millions of other forcibly displaced people worldwide. In this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris, the third Summer Refugee Olympic Team seeks to do just that.

In 2016, when the first International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team geared up to take the stage in Rio de Janeiro, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) counted 60 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. As the 2024 Refugee Olympic Team sets their eyes on Paris, that number has nearly doubled. The Refugee Olympic Team takes on an increasingly important role in representing displaced people’s abilities, skills, and talents in international sport and on the international stage. The team generates critically needed media exposure and demonstrates the impact of investing in the lives of the forcibly displaced people. 

This year, 36 refugee athletes from 11 countries and hosted by 15 national Olympic committees will compete at the highest level in 12 sports. The team is led by Chef de Mission Masomah Ali Zada, a 2020 Olympic cycler and Afghan refugee. For the first time ever, the team will compete under its own unique team emblem, a symbol of solidarity and identity. 

History of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team  

The United Nations General Assembly first announced plans for an Olympic team made up of refugees in 2015, resulting in a team of 10 international refugees debuting at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. Competing in various sports, the team returned to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with three times the number of athletes. To be eligible for the IOC Refugee Olympic team, athletes must be registered as refugees in their current host countries, recognized by UNHCR. Additionally, they are sponsored by that country’s national Olympic committee, and many are additionally sponsored through Olympic Solidarity’s Refugee Athlete Scholarship Program. 

The creation of the Refugee Olympic Team coincided with the creation of the Olympic Refuge Foundation, which aims to involve one million forcibly displaced young people in sports programming by 2024. In addition to youth sports programming, the foundation has invested in psychosocial well-being and social inclusion for their athletes and in other sports organizations for displaced people. 

Cheering On Refugee Athletes  

To support the 2024 Refugee Olympic Team, several new campaigns offer a variety of opportunities to follow and cheer on the athletes. Warner Bros Discovery, the IOC’s media partner, has launched its Home Crowd Initiative that aims to unite Olympic fans into a “home crowd” for the refugee athletes. In addition, the IOC’s 1 in 100 Million campaign aims to highlight the status of each athlete as one of over 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, inviting viewers to learn more about their unique journeys and what they represent for other refugees around the world.  

Warner Bros Discovery will also utilize its streaming services and platforms to amplify refugee stories, through Refugees’ Voice programming on Eurosport.com and refugee-focused documentaries on streaming services such as Max. The media group has also appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Yusra Mardini, a Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer whose life story and athletic journey inspired the film The Swimmers, as a Eurosport Reporter dedicated to the Refugee Olympic Team.   

Delving deeper into the journey of refugee Olympic athletes, Oscar-nominated director and Syrian refugee Waad Al-Kateab's newest film, We Dare to Dream, chronicles athletes’ lives and challenges on the road to qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. We Dare to Dream is currently available to stream on Peacock. 

New fans of the Refugee Olympic Team can also keep follow them on Instagram @refugeeolympicteam, Facebook @Refugee Olympic Team, and on X @refugeesolympic. 

Refugee Olympian Spotlights

Name | Sport | Country of origin

Adnan Khankan | Judo | Syria 

Alaa Maso | Swimming | Syria  

Amir Ansari | Cycling Road | Afghanistan  

Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani | Canoe Slolam | Iran  

Arab Sibghatullah | Judo | Afghanistan  

Cindy Ngamba | Boxing | Cameroon  

Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi | Taekwando | Iran  

Dorian Keletela |Athletics | Congo  

Dorsa Yavarivafa | Badminton | Iran 

Eyeru Gebru | Cycling Road | Ethiopia  

Farida Abaroge | Athletics | Ethiopia  

Farzad Mansouri | Taekwondo | Afghanistan  

Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez | Canoe Sprint | Cuba 

Francisco Edilio Centeno Nieves | Shooting | Venezuela  

Hadi Tiranvalipour | Taekwando | Iran  

Iman Mahdavi | Wrestling | Iran  

Jamal Abdelmaji | Athletics | Sudan 

Jamal Valizadeh | Wrestling Greco-Roman | Iran  

Kasra Mehdipournejad | Taekwondo | Iran 

Luna Solomon | Shooting | Eritrea  

Mahboubeh Barbari Yharfi | Judo | Iran 

Manizha Talash | Breaking | Afghanistan  

Matin Balsini | Swimming | Iran  

Mohammad Amin Alsalami | Athletics | Syria 

Mohammad Rashnonezhad | Judo | Iran  

Muna Dahouk | Judo |Syria  

Musa Suliman | Athletics | Sudan  

Nigara Shaheen | Judo | Afghanistan  

Omid Ahmadisafa |Boxing | Iran  

Perina Lokure Nakang | Athletics | South Sudan  

Ramiro Mora | Weightlifting | Cuba  

Saeid Fazloula | Canoe Sprint | Iran  

Saman Soltani | Canoe Sprint | Iran  

Tachlowini Gabriyesos | Athletics | Eritrea  

Yahya Al Ghotany | Taekwondo | Syria  

Yekta Jamali Galeh | Weightlifting | Iran  

You can see the full list of Refugee Olympic Team athletes and read their stories here.  

About the Author

Estelle Erwich Headshot

Estelle Erwich

Staff Assistant Intern, RAFDI
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Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative

The Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative (RAFDI) provides evidence-based analyses that translate research findings into practice and policy impact. Established in 2022 as a response to an ever-increasing number of people forcibly displaced from their homes by protracted conflicts and persecution, RAFDI aims to expand the space for new perspectives, constructive dialogue and sustainable solu­tions to inform policies that will improve the future for the displaced people.  Read more