These are the 29 athletes competing for the Refugee Olympic Team in Tokyo

Nelson Oliveira, New York Daily News
·2 min read

They come from different nations and play different sports, but they all have one thing in common: they were forced to flee their home countries and overcome extraordinary obstacles to reach the world’s biggest sporting event.

The 29 men and women representing the second-ever Refugee Olympic Team joined the parade of athletes at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday in a moment seen as a rare sign of hope for the millions of people forcibly displaced around the world.

“Dear refugee athletes, with your talent and human spirit, you are demonstrating what an enrichment refugees are for society,” Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said during his remarks at the kick-off event.

“You had to flee from your homes because of violence, hunger or just because you were different. Today, we welcome you with open arms and offer you a peaceful home,” he said.

This first refugee team competed at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, following an official announcement by the United Nations General Assembly a year earlier. It was an effort to address the world’s growing refugee crisis and send a message of hope and inclusion to the more than 80 million displaced people around the world, according to the IOC.

This year’s refugee athletes come from 11 different countries — Afghanistan, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, the Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela. They’ll be competing in athletics, badminton, boxing, flatwater kayaking, judo, karate, road cycling, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.

Here’s the full roster for this year’s Refugee Olympic Team, along with their sports and home countries:

  • Anjelina Nadai Lohalith: athletics, South Sudan

  • Dorian Keletela, athletics, Republic of Congo

  • Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed, athletics, Sudan

  • James Nyang Chiengjiek, athletics, South Sudan

  • Paulo Amotun Lokoro, athletics, Kenya

  • Rose Nathike Likonyen, athletics, South Sudan

  • Tachlowini Gabriyesos, athletics, Eritrea

  • Aram Mahmoud, badminton, Syria

  • Eldric Sella Rodriguez, boxing, Venezuela

  • Wessam Salamana, boxing, Syria

  • Saeid Fazloula, canoe / kayak flatwater, Iran

  • Ahmad Baddredin Wais, road cycling, Syria

  • Ahmad Alikaj, judo, Syria

  • Javad Mahjoub, judo, Iran

  • Masomah Ali Zada, road cycling, Afghanistan

  • Muna Dahouk, judo, Syria

  • Nigara Shaheen, judo, Afghanistan

  • Popole Misenga, judo, DR Congo

  • Sanda Aldass, judo, Syria

  • Hamoon Derafshipour, karate, Iran

  • Wael Shueb, karate, Syria

  • Luna Solomon, shooting, Eritrea

  • Yusra Mardini, swimming, Syria

  • Alaa Maso, swimming, Syria

  • Abdullah Sediqi, taekwondo, Afghanistan

  • Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi, taekwondo, Iran

  • Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, taekwondo, Iran

  • Cyrille Tchatchet II, weightlifting, Cameroon

  • Aker Al Obaidi, wrestling, Iraq