IOC Refugee Olympic Team to compete in Paris 2024 as ambassadors for more than 100 million displaced people

Lausanne (FIL/IOC) 36 athletes, coached by 15 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and competing in 12 sports, are part of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024, IOC President Thomas Bach recently announced at a live-streamed ceremony at the Olympic House in Lausanne. The Olympic Refugee Team will be competing at the Olympic Games for the third time after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and will act as ambassadors for more than 100 million displaced people around the world.

The athletes are supported by the NOCs of Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Their sports are athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoeing, cycling, judo, sport shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.

"We welcome you all with open arms. You are an asset to our Olympic community and to our societies. With your participation in the Olympic Games, you will show how resilient people are and what excellence they are capable of. You will send a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world," said IOC President

He continued: "At the same time, you will make billions of people around the world aware of the scale of the refugee crisis. So I encourage everyone to join us in cheering you on - the IOC Refugee Olympic Team."

The composition of the team was approved by the IOC Executive Board and is based on a number of criteria, including first and foremost the sporting achievements of the individual athletes and their refugee status as confirmed by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UN). When selecting the team, the IOC paid attention to a balanced representation of sports and genders as well as the distribution of countries of origin. The full list of athletes can be found here.