Refugee Olympic team bids for first ever medal

A total of 36 athletes from 11 different countries will be representing this year's Olympic refugee team in France.

‌The team was created in 2015 to represent the world's displaced population of over 100 million people. At the 2016 Games in Rio the team comprised ten athletes. That number increased to 29 for Tokyo 2020, which took place in 2021 after the global pandemic caused the Games' postponement.   

One of this year's refugee team is 27-year-old Iranian-born kayaker Saman Soltani.

‌"I'm proud of who I am," she told CGTN while describing where she won the many medals hanging on her bedroom wall in Vienna. ‌

‌Soltani grew up in the water. She started swimming at the age of five, moving into artistic swimming a few years later and becoming Iranian national champion for ten years in a row. Yet artistic swimming for girls was frowned upon in her home country, and she was not allowed to compete internationally.

‌This is where Soltani's love for kayaking began, leading her to win multiple medals for the national team and taking her abroad. ‌

Soltani arrived in Austria in 2022 and quickly found success as a kayaker in her host country and was chosen for the Olympic refugee team in May 2024.

"This time it's like a big mission for me because it's not only for me, it's for my family, for my friends, for everyone who helped me to stand up again,"‌ she said.

‌The same could be said for another Iranian-born Olympic refugee team member, Yekta Jamali Galeh, who is training as a weightlifter in the German city of Leimen.

Galeh came to stay in Germany at the age of 17.

‌"I came to Germany by plane," she said. "I had the feeling of fear, excitement, stress, all this, but at that moment I was thinking really strong mentally. I was really scared, but at that time my fear was not so great. I am really proud of myself."

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‌Two years on, Galeh has learnt the German language and is training six days a week with Germany's national weightlifting coach Almir Velagic.

‌He says Galeh's success, and that of many on the refugee team, comes from the strength of her character.

He explained CGTN: ‌"The story that she has behind her, what she has achieved, if everyone were to put themselves in this situation at the age of 17, getting on a plane and not knowing where you will end up? You need a lot of courage and that is what they have been through their whole life. People like that have something special in them that will help them to benefit more in regular life and in sport."

A quote found on one of Galeh's social media pages reads "history will remember everything you do". She elaborated on those words for CGTN, explaining that "even if people forget that person and what she did, history never forgets and that is important."

‌This year's Olympic refugee team, includes athletes from Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, who will compete in 12 different sports during the 17 day international multi-sport event. 

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