By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
Yusra Mardini, a 17-year old Syrian refugee, boarded an inflatable boat with 20 others and embarked on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. 35 days into the voyage, when the boat’s motor broke, Mardini, a competitive swimmer, jumped overboard and pulled the boat for three and a half hours until they safely reached the shore.
After boarding a train that zipped across Europe, Mardini finally made it to Berlin, Germany where she now calls home, at least temporarily. But the girl with no country or flag was given hope last week when the International Olympic Committee announced Mardini and other refugees could compete in the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
Mardini is one of 43 athletes to be considered to represent a team made up exclusively of refugees, although the committee estimates as many as 10 athletes may make the cut. The committee stated that the nomination criteria include sporting level, official refugee status from the United Nations, and personal situation and background.
“We have all been touched by the magnitude of this refugee crisis,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said to reporters after a two-day executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. “By welcoming the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes to the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, we want to send a message of hope to all the refugees of the world.”
“Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, having no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic anthem,” said Bach.
Bach’s statement highlights the growing concern for the world’s refugee crisis. According to the latest statistics compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2014, the UN’s refugee agency estimated that there are 59.5 million refugees displaced around the world. Not since World War II have the numbers reached so high.
Because the refugee numbers continue to climb, the International Olympic Committee was obligated to make a statement, and they delivered, sending a message to the entire world.
Yolande Mabika couldn’t be happier at the committee’s announcement. Mabika, a refugee who fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the 43 athletes to be considered for the team.
“I cannot fight for my country,” Mabika said in an interview with The Guardian. “I will fight for the Olympics, I will fight for all the refugees in the world. Judo is my life. It helped me escape war, to take another path.”
Contact that author at jwilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
