Largest refugee team set to compete at Paris Paralympics

A total of nine refugees will participate in the Paris Paralympics as members of the largest refugee team assembled, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Tuesday.

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These athletes, based across six different countries, will compete in six sporting categories, athletics, powerlifting, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, and wheelchair fencing.

Paralympics will follow Olympic in French capital

The Paris Paralympics team also includes a guide runner, bringing the total to nine. This marks an increase from the six athletes who made up the Tokyo Paralympics refugee team in 2021. Scheduled from August 28 to September 8, the Paralympics will follow the Olympics in the French capital by just over two weeks.

The concept of refugee teams for international sporting events began with the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, initiated to highlight the plight of refugees escaping conflict and poverty. This effort has grown into a symbolic gesture of hope and resilience, embraced by both the International Olympic Committee and the IPC for future events.

Ibrahim Al Hussein's third Olympic

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Al Hussein will be competing in a third Paralympics for the refugee team but is switching from swimming to triathlon, even though he faced the challenge of putting together all the necessary equipment to compete in triathlon which can be expensive. Al Hussein arrived in Greece from Syria 10 years ago.

Zakia Khudadadi, who represented Afghanistan at the covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 shortly after being evacuated from the country following the Taliban takeover, and Hadi Hassanzada will compete in parataekwondo. Hassanzada was born in Afghanistan and grew up in Iran.

Salman Abbariki will be competing for his second Paralympics 

Shot putter Salman Abbariki will also be competing in track and field at a second paralympics.

Once Hadi Darvish, a refugee from Iran, found a gym that would take an athlete in a wheelchair and without a bank account he thrived in power lifting, winning a German title in 2022 in a championship for able-bodied athletes.

The team is completed by Sayed Amir Hossein Pour, who won Asian junior table tennis titles representing Iran, and wheelchair fencer Amelio Castro Grueso.

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The Opening Ceremony for the Paris Paralympics will be held on August 28 along the Champs-Elysees and in Place de la Concorde in Paris.