On the athletics field of the Île-des-Vannes sports complex, in Seine-Saint-Denis, jerseys of all colors mix together. A few days before the start of the Olympic Games, the bright yellow bras of the Jamaican athletes cross paths with the sky blue outfits of the Botswanans, while a sprinter in a jacket with the “Armenia” logo warms up a few meters from the colorful jogging suits of the athletes from Vanuatu, in Oceania.
In the middle of the morning, Dorian Keletela also joins the training ground. But this 25-year-old athlete from the Republic of Congo does not display any distinctive signs representing his country of origin: almost ten years ago, the young man decided to flee the territory, for “political and ethnic reasons”, before joining Portugal, then France. Dressed in a simple white jacket, he will participate in the Olympic Games under the banner of the refugee team, with a heart-shaped logo.
This delegation, created in 2015 on the initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in response to various migration crises, allows refugee athletes from around the world, often deprived of international competitions, to participate in the Games without representing a specific nation. In Rio in 2016, 10 athletes from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo competed in the refugee team. Four years later, its ranks have almost tripled, welcoming 29 athletes at the Tokyo Games.
For 2024, 37 exiled athletes, specializing in 12 different disciplines and hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), will represent the 100 million forcibly displaced people around the world. “If I win a medal, it will be under the official flag of the Olympic Games, and with the anthem of the competition. But the symbol is stronger than anything: imagine the message sent to the millions of refugees, all over the world. It is priceless, and I don’t really have words to describe what I would feel,” confides Dorian Keletela.
Like the rest of his teammates, the young man was supported by a scholarship program managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation and funded by Olympic Solidarity. The members of the delegation were directly selected by the IOC Executive Board based on various criteria, such as their level in their respective sports, the official recognition of their refugee status by the United Nations, or the personal situation and sporting background of each member. “If it hadn’t been for the refugee team, I don’t think I would have been able to compete so quickly at the Olympics,” says Dorian Keletela. While still a minor, a refugee in Lisbon, he was quickly spotted by the NOC of Portugal, where he progressed dazzlingly in his discipline. In 2021, he took part in the Tokyo Games for the refugee team for the first time, and smashed his personal best in the 100 meters, in 10’33 seconds.
Since settling in France, his journey has not always been easy. “Dorian was unable to participate in the last world championships because he was unable to obtain his French residence permit in time and found himself in administrative difficulties in receiving his scholarship, despite the help and involvement of the French NOC,” says his coach, Elliot Draper. Despite this major obstacle, which deprived him of a competition alongside the greatest international champions, the athlete continues to believe in it, and says he is now ready to beat his record in Paris. “I receive a lot of messages of support on social networks, especially from refugees. I want to show them that anything is possible, it pushes me even more,” he insists.
“They are aware of the symbol they represent”
Coming out of the very official lunch of the IOC Session on 23 July, Afghan-born judoka Sibghatullah Arab expressed the same determination. Forced to leave his home country when the Taliban came to power in August 2021, this 22-year-old joined Germany in 2022, after a long journey. Trained by the German club Mönchengladbach, the athlete took seventh place at the European Open in Madrid in 2023 – and does not hide his pride when talking about his journey.
“You have to understand what it’s like for an athlete to have to start all over again, in a country you don’t know, where you don’t speak the language… And to end up here, taking part in the Paris Olympics!” he explains with a smile. Sibghatullah Arab prefers to talk about the bustling Olympic Village, which he has just discovered, his meetings with world judo champions on the field, or his weeks of training in Bayeux, Normandy, with the rest of the refugee team, rather than dwelling on Afghan politics, the security problems encountered in the country, or the difficulties of practicing his sport under the Taliban regime.
“Some of the athletes we support still have family in their home countries and prefer not to comment on politics… Like all activists, from the moment they step into the spotlight, they expose themselves to more or less negative or positive reactions, all over the world,” explains Olivier Niamkey, associate director of Olympic Solidarity and deputy chef de mission of the refugee team. He points out that his athletes benefit, like all other delegations, from the security system set up by the French authorities and the IOC. “This is probably where they are least at risk. And they are fully aware of the symbol they represent: it goes beyond simple sporting participation. Their presence allows us to talk, for once, about refugees in a positive way… And perhaps to raise awareness on the subject,” he emphasizes.
Ramiro Mora Romero, a weightlifter from Cuba, says he is “very proud to represent the 100 million displaced people” through his participation in the Olympic Games. “Leaving your country is a sacrifice that no one can understand until they have experienced it. I want to send a message of hope, to show that you should not give up, no matter what. And above all, continue to work hard,” he explains. The 26-year-old knows what he is talking about. After leaving his island for political reasons, he moved to the United Kingdom in 2019, and worked in a circus as an acrobat before applying for asylum. During this period, he considered giving up his sport several times, before meeting a British coach who gave him back his taste for competition. In 2022 and 2023, he shone at national competitions, and won the British record in the 89 kg and 96 kg weight categories.
On Friday, July 26, during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the young Cuban will take his place on the second boat of the parade on the Seine, just behind the Greek delegation. His teammate Cindy Ngamba, a boxer from Cameroon and triple English champion in her discipline, as well as Yahya Ghotany, a taekwondo practitioner from Syria who spent time in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, will carry neutral flags, bearing the image of the Olympic rings.
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