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- Meet 5 of the Women Athletes on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team
Meet 5 of the Women Athletes on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team
Getty / Laurence Griffiths
A total of 29 athletes from 13 host National Olympic Committees have been selected to compete at the Tokyo Games on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team. According to Olympics.com, the IOC’s Executive Board narrowed down these contenders from a group of more than 50 people who held scholarships. They will compete under the Olympic flag.
The IOC Refugee Olympic Team made its debut at the last Summer Games in Rio with 10 members. “The reasons we created this team still exist,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “We have more forcibly displaced people in the world right now, and therefore it went without saying that we wanted to create an IOC Refugee Olympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.” There are over 80 million displaced people around the world, the UN Refugee Agency reports.
Keep reading to check out the 10 women athletes competing across sports who are part of this team. Plus, follow the Refugee Olympic Team on Instagram and Twitter. A Refugee Paralympic Team for Tokyo will reportedly be announced in the coming weeks.
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Getty / AFP Contributor
Rose Nathike Lokonyen, Track
Rose Nathike Lokonyen acted as the flag-bearer at the Rio 2016 Olympics where she was a member of the very first IOC Refugee Olympic Team. She was originally born in South Sudan and grew up in northern Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. She placed seventh in her 800m heat at her Olympic debut.
Event competing: women’s 800m
Follow Rose Nathike Lokonyen on Instagram: @rnathike
Getty / Anadolu Agency
Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi, Taekwondo
Born in Iran, Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi currently resides in The Netherlands and has claimed 34 world-ranking Taekwondo medals since 2015. She was the first refugee athlete to compete in the World Taekwondo Championships.
Event competing: women’s -49kg
Follow Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi on Instagram: @dina.pouryounes
Getty / Johannes Eisele
Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, Track
Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, a South Sudan-born runner now training in Kenya, made her Olympic debut with the first-ever IOC Refugee Olympic Team in Rio. Her personal best in the 1500m is 4:33.54, which she clocked at the 2017 IAAF World Championships.
Event competing: women’s 1500m
Getty / Laurence Griffiths
Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, Taekwondo
Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi claimed bronze for Iran at the 2016 Olympics in Taekwondo and now lives in Germany. Her bronze medal marked the first time a woman from Iran had earned a Summer Olympic medal. She is also a 2014 Youth Olympic Games champion.
Event competing: women’s -57kg
Follow Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi on Instagram: @kimiya.alizade
Getty / NurPhoto
Yusra Mardini, Swimming
Yusra Mardini was another athlete who competed with the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio 2016. Born in Syria and now residing in Germany, she spoke about her experiences amid a postponed Games in a live chat on Instagram last year, saying at the time that she was training “better than ever.”
Event competing: women’s 100m butterfly
Follow Yusra Mardini on Instagram: @yusramardini
