29-Member Refugee Team at Olympics with 5 Iranian Athletes
The refugee team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will compete with 29 athletes in 12 sports. The refugee sports delegation includes 5 Iranian athletes in its lineup.
Following the formation and dispatch of a 10-member refugee team to the 2016 Rio Olympics and the positive global response, the International Olympic Committee expanded and finalized the participation of the refugee team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics on a much broader scale.
The refugee sports delegation will this time attract the attention of sports and political circles worldwide with 29 athletes competing in 12 sports at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games.
The 29 athletes who successfully secured their Olympic quota for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics under the International Olympic Committee flag had been covered by 13 National Olympic Committees over the past years and were introduced to the IOC to reach the Olympics.
In the composition of the refugee team, which will make its appearance at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony as the second team after Greece’s delegation, 5 Iranian refugee athletes are also present.
Kimia Alizadeh, the bronze medalist in taekwondo with the Iranian team at the 2016 Olympics (refugee in Germany), Dina Pourioneslangeroudi in taekwondo (refugee in the Netherlands), Saeid Fazaeiaolly in rowing (refugee in Germany), Hamon Dorfshipour in karate (refugee in Canada), and Javad Mahjoob in judo (refugee in Canada) are the Iranian-origin athletes on this team.
It is worth noting that there is a possibility of 4 Iranian refugee athletes facing current Iranian national team members at the Tokyo Olympics. Given the suspension of Iran’s judo sport by the International Judo Federation, there will be no Iranian opponent for Javad Mahjoob at the Olympic Games.
It should be noted that the IOC in the first phase of the program to form the Tokyo Olympic refugee team determined the main composition options of the refugee team by calling 56 athletes. The International Olympic Committee also allocated a budget of 2 million euros from the “Olympic Solidarity” fund to provide scholarships to these 56 athletes to finance this program.
The IOC then, based on its own criteria and by reviewing athletic performance, personal background, and geographical aspects, finally announced the selection of the final list of refugee team members.
Source: DW
