First-Ever Refugee Team Hit of Rio Olympics
The first-ever Refugee Team is a hit at the Olympics in Rio. According to news reports (and here), the crowd at Maracanã Stadium during the Olympic opening ceremony last night reserved its loudest cheers for the Refugee Olympic team. The International Olympic Committee previously announced that it would field a team under its own flag earlier; It announced a 10-person team in June. The team of six men and five women fled their home countries — Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo. They are swimmers, runners, and judokas.
The International Olympic Committee named 800m runner Rose Nathike Lokonyen, originally from South Sudan, to be the team’s flagbearer at the opening ceremony. Rose carried the Olympic flag. The young runner arrived in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in 2002 and is part of the Tegla Loroupe Foundation.
In more Olympics news, NBC reports that people living in the world’s largest refugee camp will now be able to watch the 2016 Rio Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has partnered with FilmAid International, an organization that brings film to displaced people across the world, to broadcast the games for almost 200,000 people living at the refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, for the next 16 days, according to olympic.org.
KJ