Among all the incredibly uplifting stories that emerge from each iteration of the Olympics, there is a constant over the previous two editions - the story of refugees. Of the hundreds of millions of people who migrate, many of them displaced, these handful of athletes are a beacon of hope, that there's light at the end of the tunnel. (More Sports News)
The Refugee Olympic Team was conceptualised at the time of Rio Olympics in 2016, and has since participated at the quadrennial multi-sport event with the aim of calling attention to the plight of refugees worldwide.
This time, the team is 37-strong - their biggest contingent at the Summer Games so far - and comprises athletes from 15 different countries. These 37 sportspersons will compete across 12 sports with eyes not necessarily on the prize, but on belonging at the global stage.
Take Luna Solomon, for instance, who participated at Tokyo 2020 in shooting. Solomon's journey typifies strife and perseverance. She was 20 years old when she made up her mind to flee her homeland Eritrea, and didn바카라t tell her family about it.
Solomon had heard about others going to Europe, and one night she met people in her neighborhood to embark on a similar route. 바카라It was a really hard journey, we risked dying. It lasted 10 days, we had almost nothing to eat or drink 바카라 just to stay alive, we had to drink a tiny amount of water a day. A lot of people died on the way,바카라 the now 30-year-old told the Olympics website.
The worst was yet to come, however, as they arrived in Libya. For the then 20-year-old Solomon, it was the worst day of her life. 바카라The boat was so small and unsecured, there were about 750 of us in it [and] it was really tough. After 12 hours of sailing, the Italian police came to rescue us. I was reassured to be alive,바카라 she said.
She is now a mother and has been living in Switzerland since 2015, but that too hasn't been without its challenges, as the athlete is away from her family and unable to speak the language.
바카라My dad died when I arrived here, life was really difficult for me and I thought my life was over. I wondered why I'd left my country, why I hadn바카라t stayed with my family바카라Š I regretted it.바카라
The turning point came after she decided to channel her energy into taking up a sport. Initially, when three-time Olympic shooting champion Niccolo Campriani wanted to meet Solomon and discuss the prospect of taking up shooting, she was aghast.
바카라I said: 바카라Sport shooting? Shooting isn바카라t for sport, it바카라s for killing people!바카라
바카라For the first three months, I didn바카라t feel at ease [but] Nicco worked very hard, he was very patient and supported me all the time. In the end, whenever I missed a day of training I missed it, I started to enjoy the sport.바카라
The enjoyment lead to improvement, and she eventually found herself at the grandest stage of them all - the Olympic arena in Tokyo.
Now, as Paris 2024 beckons, she wants her story to serve as inspiration to other refugees. 바카라I said to myself: 바카라As refugees, we too have the right to take part in the Games, we바카라re human beings like everyone else, we바카라re not animals.
바카라I was very touched by the team of refugee athletes. We were all together like a family, we got on well, we laughed, we chatted 바카라 it was a beautiful image for all the refugees in the world.바카라
And just like Solomon, the 37 athletes competing in Paris will have stories of their own to tell, of memories painful and glorious, and of lessons worth learning.
