The International Olympic Committee has named 36 athletes from 11 countries to the Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, marking the largest such team since the program was introduced for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The team was approved by the IOC’s Executive Board and relied on the United Nations’ Refugee Agency to verify refugee status. The IOC says that it considered “first and foremost, each athlete’s sporting performance.”
The 2024 team will include two swimmers: Alaa Maso and Matin Balsini.
Maso, 24, will become a two-time Olympian in Paris. At the Tokyo Games, he finished 44th in the 50 free in 23.30. Maso is from Aleppo, Syria and fled the country along with his brother in 2015, eventually settling in Germany. His brother Mohamad Maso represented Syria at the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s triathlon.
Aleppo was one of the primary battefields of the Syrian civil war, with the Battle of Aleppo lasting for almost four-and-a-half years. The city was left in ruins, with an estimated 33,500 buildings destroyed, including Maso’s training facility.
Maso finished 67th at the 2023 World Championships in the 50 free, swimming 23.74.
Balsini, 23, is also a second-time Olympian, though a first time member of the Refugee Team. He was born in Tehran, Iran and represented Iran at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, finishing 33rd in the 200 fly (1:59.97). That remains his best time, and he has since moved to the United Kingdom where he trains at the University of Surrey Swimming club.
He was a member of the Iranian national team system from the age of 15. Balsini left Iran in 2022 and was out of the pool for seven months while seeking asylum.
That 1:59.97 remains his best time in the event.
Swimming is the sport of one of the most famous refugee athletes ever Yusra Mardini who retired in 2023 after two Olympic appearances. She gained fame when, along with her sister and two other refugees, she helped tow a boat carrying 20 people across the Aegean Sea for three hours before it reached land. She was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports and Games list for Europe.
“The Refugee Olympic Team should remind us of the resilience, courage and hopes of all those uprooted by war and persecution. These athletes represent what human beings can do, even in the face of extreme adversity,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
“The team also reminds us that sport can be transformative for people whose lives have been disrupted in often harrowing circumstances. Transformative not just for Olympians, but for everyone. Sport can offer respite, an escape from daily worries, a sense of safety, a moment of enjoyment. It can give people the chance to heal physically and mentally, and become part of a community again.”
The team represents more than 100 million United Nations-designated refugees around the world.
Paris 2024 Refugee Team By the Numbers
- 74 athletes funded with refugee scholarships
- 36 athletes will compete
- 15 host National Olympic Committees
- 12 sports will feature refugee athletes
Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympics
- Rio 2016 (Summer) – 10 athletes
- Tokyo 2020 (Summer) – 29 athletes
- Paris 2024 (Summer) – 36 athletes
So far, no refugee athletes have competed at the Winter Olympic Games. at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the team entered the stadium second in the Parade of Nations behind only the traditional originators of the Olympic tradition Greece, indicating the importance of the Refugee Olympic Team to the IOC’s mission.
The Refugee Olympic Team has never won a medal at the Olympic Games, though they came very close at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when Kimia Alizadeh lost in the bronze medal match in the women’s under 57kg division. Among the group’s other top performances:
- Judoka Popole Misenga advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2016 Olympics in the men’s 90kg class.
- Tachlowini Gabriyesos finished 16th in the men’s marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
- Judoka Javad Mahjoub advanced to the Round of 16 in the men’s 100kg+ class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
- By the numbers (number funded, sports, etc, displaced people represented)
The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be held on July 26, 2024, though some competitions will start as early as July 24th.
Thanks for highlighting these athletes. This is real grit and inspiration.