36 refugee athletes from 11 countries to compete together in Paris 2024

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - With only two days left to the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the 36 athletes from 11 countries will compete in 12 sports as part of the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris.

"The IOC Refugee Olympic Team sends a great signal about what an enrichment refugees are for our Olympic community and for society at large. Watching them compete is a great moment for all of us, and we hope everyone will join," Thomas Bach IOC President, International Olympic Committee President said in a statement.

"The athletes are welcome in our Olympic community, among their fellow athletes – competing with them, but also living with them together under one roof," he added.

The Refugee Olympic Team will appear at the Summer Games for the third time.

The first Refugee Olympic Team was formed in Rio 2016, where 10 refugee athletes competed and in Tokyo 2020, the team expanded, with 29 athletes participating in the Games.

The Team will compete for medals across various sports, including swimming, athletics, badminton, boxing, breakdancing, canoeing, cycling, judo, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling.

In the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, athletics has the most athletes with seven participants, while badminton and breakdancing each have one athlete representing the team.

While Iran was the country from which the most athletes emigrated, Germany was the country that received the highest number of emigrants from the Refugee Olympic Team.

- Branches, names of athletes in the Refugee Olympic Team are as follows:

Farida Abaroge (female, Ethiopia, France, athletics)

Omid Ahmadisafa (male, Iran, Germany, boxing)

Yahya Al Ghotany (male, Syria, Jordan, taekwondo)

Mohammad Amin Alsalami (male, Syria, Germany, athletics)

Amir Ansari (male, Afghanistan, Sweden, road cycling)

Sibghatullah Arab (male, Afghanistan, Germany, judo)

Matin Balsini (male, Iran, Great Britain, swimming)

Mahboubeh Barbari Zharfi (female, Iran, Germany, judo)

Edilio Francisco Centeno Nieves (male, Venezuela, Mexico, shooting sport)

Muna Dahouk (female, Syria, Netherlands, judo)

Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed (male, Sudan, Israel, athletics)

Saeid Fazloula (male, Iran, Germany, canoe sprint)

Tachlowini Gabriyesos (male, Eritrea, Israel, athletics)

Eyeru Gebru (female, Ethiopia, France, road cycling)

Yekta Jamali Galeh (female, Iran, Germany, weightlifting)

Fernando Dayán Jorge Enríquez (male, Cuba, USA, canoe sprint)

Dorian Keletela (male, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, athletics)

Adnan Khankan (male, Syria, Germany, judo)

Perina Lokure (female, South Sudan, Kenya, athletics)

Iman Mahdavi (male, Iran, Italy, freestyle wrestling)

Farzad Mansouri (male, Afghanistan, Great Britain, taekwondo)

Alaa Maso (male, Syria, Germany, swimming)

Kasra Mehdipournejad (male, Iran, Germany, taekwondo)

Cindy Ngamba (female, Cameroon, Great Britain, boxing)

Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi (female, Iran, Netherlands, taekwondo)

Mohammad Rashnonezhad (male, Iran, Netherlands, judo)

Amir Rezanejad (male, Iran, Germany, canoe slalom)

Ramiro Mora Romero (male, Cuba, Great Britain, weightlifting)

Nigara Shaheen (female, Afghanistan, Canada, judo)

Luna Solomon (female, Eritrea, Switzerland, shooting sport)

Saman Soltani (female, Iran, Austria, canoe sprint)

Musa Suliman (male, Sudan, Switzerland, athletics)

Manizha Talash (female, Afghanistan, Spain, breaking)

Hadi Tiranvalipour (male, Iran, Italy, taekwondo)

Jamal Valizadeh (male, Iran, France, Greco-Roman wrestling)