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[Fritz]

Fantastic story and a strong symbol. There is a lot to be said about the Olympics and the IOC but this is awesome.

Guardian article

Last summer, Yusra Mardini and her sister Sarah fled their home in Damascus for Beirut, Istanbul and finally Izmir in Turkey, where they managed to squeeze on to a dinghy crossing the Mediterranean to the Greek island of Lesbos. Thirty minutes into their journey, however, the motor stopped and the boat, carrying 20 people rather than the six or seven it was intended for, threatened to capsize.

Yusra, Sarah and another woman got into the water, pushing and pulling the dinghy until they reached the shore. They were the only ones on board who could swim. “I thought it would be a real shame if I drowned in the sea, because I am a swimmer,” she told a Berlin press conference on Friday. She has hated the open sea ever since.

In August, almost exactly a year after that treacherous crossing, Mardini is hoping her swimming ability could once again change her life, but in a much happier circumstance. Now living and training in Germany, the 18-year-old is one of 43 athletes across the world who, despite having fled their homelands and become refugees, are vying for the chance to compete in the Rio Olympics.

For the first time in its history, the International Olympic Committee announced earlier this month the nations competing at the summer Games will be joined in Rio by a team of refugees, made up of athletes who would otherwise find themselves stateless and excluded.

The Mardini sisters arrived in Berlin in September, where an Egyptian translator at their accommodation put them in touch with Wasserfreunde Spandau 04, one of the city’s oldest swimming clubs.

Coach Sven Spannekrebs immediately decided that Yusra was good enough to be part of the team. Over the next five months, he told reporters on Friday, Mardini made better progress than expected, and the club started to talk about whether she could be a candidate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “But then things developed faster than we expected,” Spannekrebs said.

“A lot of people could take her as a role model,” the coach said. “Yusra is very focused. She has clear goals and organises her life around them.” Her level of organisation was almost German, he said – a comment which Yusra denied with a vigorous shake of her head. “We are like that in Syria!”

The teenager now enjoys the benefits of Germany’s elite sports school system, allowing her to train twice a day in an Olympic-standard pool next to her school. She gets up at 7am, trains for 2-3 hours, goes to classes before and after lunch, and then goes back to the pool.

Qualifying for the Olympics, Mardini said, would send a message to the world. “I want to make all the refugees proud of me. It would show that even if we had a tough journey, we can achieve something.”

 

[KingSnake]

This is a nice initiative.

 

[King_Moc]

Great idea and a very nice gesture by the IOC.

 

[SolidusDave]

Team Factionless?

Would be better for integration if they can compete for their new country though...

 

[KingSnake]

Team Factionless?

Would be better for integration if they can compete for their new country though...

They will surely will in the future if they are good, but this is more about sending a message.

In the end the number of people in this situation is bigger than the population of many countries.

 

[Striek]

If stateless is an option it should be extended for all athletes because there are many whose allegiance is only as deep as bit of paper they're forced to oblige if they want to compete, meanwhile the IOC are still shitheels as well as the Olympics in general.

 

[Marky Mark]

“I thought it would be a real shame if I drowned in the sea, because I am a swimmer,”

This is my favourite bit in what was initially quoted. So matter of fact.

 

[Kenshin001]

I wonder how the countries feel about that, particularly Ethiopia and Iraq. I mean if you are fleeing a repressive government that is bombing your neighbourhood, fair enough, but that doesn't apply in all the cases.

 

[SporeCrawler]

props to the IOC for this

 

[Banderdash]

What's the flag? The U.N. Flag?

And what anthem are they going to play?

 

[oti]

What's the flag? The U.N. Flag?

And what anthem are they going to play?

Team Refugee Olympic Athletes, or ROA, will compete under the Olympic flag and anthem, IOC chair Thomas Bach said, and on 5 August will march into the Maracanã stadium for the opening ceremony in penultimate place, immediately ahead of hosts Brazil.

Hope they use the real Olympic Anthem aka the Greek one. Nuh, whatever, this is awesome.

 

[Visualante2]

What's the flag? The U.N. Flag?

And what anthem are they going to play?

White flag seems pretty appropriate.

 

[Fritz]

I wonder how the countries feel about that, particularly Ethiopia and Iraq. I mean if you are fleeing a repressive government that is bombing your neighbourhood, fair enough, but that doesn't apply in all the cases.

Regarding Syria they are duly monitoring her advancements from Damascus and are apparently interested to "monetize" at least reputation wise on her success. She says she is not interested in politics.

 

[Trojita]

What were those three people last time that didn't have a country? I remember the one dude absolutely geeking out during the opening ceremony.

 

[321florida]

What were those three people last time that didn't have a country? I remember the one dude absolutely geeking out during the opening ceremony.

Independent Olympic athletes.

They competed under the Olympic flag also.

 

[samn]

Well as long as they don't make them swim through raw sewage.

 

[FortuneFaded]

Well as long as they don't make them swim through raw sewage.

All of the other swimmers will have to do that; why should they be exempt?

 

[Parch]

If they're good enough to qualify, they deserve to compete. I think this is more of a technicality than a grand gesture by the IOC. It would be really shitty if they said they couldn't participate just because they're not representing a country.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

If stateless is an option it should be extended for all athletes because there are many whose allegiance is only as deep as bit of paper they're forced to oblige if they want to compete, meanwhile the IOC are still shitheels as well as the Olympics in general.

I think refugees are in a bit of a different and much more dire situation here.

 

[Lmo911]

Olympians Sans Frontières