What is the Refugee Olympic Team?

It’s time for Olympics. Competing with all these great champions is exciting. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis.

Last year Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini had to swim for her life when her boat broke down as she tried to reach Europe; this month the teenager will be swimming in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The issues in Syria is known to the whole world. Due to the war atmosphere, many people have been trying to escape from the country to seek refuge in safer lands. Mardini fled Syria with her sister; part of their journey included pushing their flooding, overcrowded dinghy through the Mediterranean Sea as the strongest swimmers on board. En route the motor died and the boat took on water. She, her sister Sarah and another woman jumped over the side and spent three and a half hours towing the boat to safety through risky seas. They dived into the water with one other passenger and pushed the boat to the shore. “I could not open my eyes anymore, they were full of salt water”. They continued this unsafe journey and finally reached Germany.

A major driver of the crisis has been the Syrian civil war, which has resulted in almost 5 million people fleeing the country since war broke out in 2011. By the time she hit the pool on Saturday, she had been mostly absent from formal competition for two years. Well, that says it all!

Mardini, who now lives in Germany, attended Friday’s opening ceremony, but didn’t stay for the end because she wanted to be ready for her race.

Eventually, the sisters made it to Austria and then Germany, where they have since been joined by the rest of their family in Berlin. “But this summer, the athletes are getting a chance to do something they love: They are competing in the Summer Olympics as the Refugee Olympic Team!”. Yusra’s spot wasn’t confirmed but she trained hard for the qualifiers.

Ten refugees will participate at this year’s Olympic Games under a new flag for athletes who have fled conflict in countries and regions around the world.