'We welcome you with open arms' - Refugee Olympic Team named for Paris 2024

Updated 02/05/2024 at 12:51 GMT

Thirty-six athletes from 11 different countries have been selected to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris 2024 Games. The sportsmen and women will represent more than 100 million people who are displaced around the world and will take part in across 12 sports, including athletics, cycling and swimming, and feature a reigning Olympic canoe champion originally from Cuba.

'What they've been through blows my mind' - Rutherford pays tribute to Refugee Olympic Team

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says the whole world will cheer on the Refugee Olympic Team, which has been named for Paris 2024.

Thirty-six athletes from 11 countries will compete across 12 different sports, having been picked initially on their sporting performance alongside their refugee status being verified by United Nations bodies.

Fifteen National Olympic Committees, including Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France and the USA, have hosted the athletes and provided training provisions.

Olympic Games Paris 2024

Paris 2024 Olympic Flame Relay - Catch the best of Sunday's sun-soaked action

00:11:07

13 hours ago

They include boxer Cindy Ngamba, who left Cameroon aged 11 in search of a better life in the UK and swimmer Alaa Maso, who fled conflict in Syria before settling in Germany.

But arguably the highest profile is Olympic sprint canoe champion Fernando Jorge, who defected from Cuba after winning C2 1000m gold in Tokyo.

It is the third time a Refugee Olympic Team will compete at a summer Games, following the debut appearance at Rio 2016. In a sign of progression, the team now has its own emblem which features a way marker arrow with a heart in at the centre.

“We welcome all of you with open arms,” said Bach.

“You are an enrichment to our Olympic Community, and to our societies. With your participation in the Olympic Games, you will demonstrate the human potential of resilience and excellence.

“This will send a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world. At the same time, you will make billions of people around the world aware of the magnitude of the refugee crisis.

“Therefore, I encourage everyone, around the world, to join us in cheering for you – the IOC Refugee Olympic Team".

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the team should remind the world of the “resilience, courage and hopes of all those uprooted by war and persecution”, while the team’s chef de mission has also encouraged athletes to enjoy the experience.

“All of you had a dream, and today your dream to compete at the Olympic Games is closer than ever,” said Masomah Ali Zada.

“With all the challenges that you have faced, you now have a chance to inspire a new generation, represent something bigger than yourselves and show the world what refugees are capable of.”

- - -

discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer

Olympic Games Paris 2024