Tokyo Olympics: What is the Refugee Olympic Team?

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The 2020 Refugee Olympic Team paraded across a stadium in Tokyo as part of the opening ceremony

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are underway, with more than 11,000 athletes representing 206 countries.

One team that might have caught your eye is the Refugee Olympic Team.

Instead of representing one individual country, this team is made up of athletes from 11 countries who now live and train in 13 host countries.

This is the second time the refugee team will be competing. The first time was at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.

The team has increased in size since 2016, from 10 to 29 members. This is also the first year that there is a Refugee Paralympic Team.

So, what is the Refugee Olympic Team? Read on to find out.

The Refugee Olympic Team: Everything you need to know

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Swimmer Yusra Mardini competed in the Refugee Olympic team in 2016 and will be back for her second games. Mardini, who now lives in Germany, escaped from a civil war in her home of Syria in August of 2015

In 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) created a Refugee Emergency Fund to help bring refugees into sport.

They also created the Refugee Olympic team to allow refugee athletes to compete in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

This was in response to the growing crisis facing millions of people.

In 2015, 65 million people around the world had to leave their homes as a result of conflict or natural disaster.

In that year, more than one million refugees entered Europe after fleeing wars in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

The creation of the Refugee Team was designed to send a message of hope to millions of refugees around the world.

The 10 athletes who competed in Rio de Janeiro came from Syria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

Who is competing in the Refugee Olympic Team?

Image source, Maja Hitij / Getty Images

Image caption, Abdullah Sediqi competed in taekwondo at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as part of the IOC Olympic Refugee team. He fled from his home in Afghanistan four years ago and now lives in Belgium

Following the success of the 2016 team, the IOC decided to enter an IOC refugee team in the 2020 Tokyo games.

The 29 Olympians in the team come from Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Eritrea, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan, and Cameroon.

Many of these countries are experiencing conflict or civil wars, making it too dangerous for the athletes to return to their home nations.

The team will compete in 12 sports, including athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, judo, karate, taekwondo, shooting, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling.