We can ALL cheer for this team during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

As the 2016 Summer Olympics unfolds in Rio de Janeiro, many of you will be cheering on the United States, or the country you are from, where you live, or even where your ancestors originated. But there is one team that I encourage you to root for this Olympics because you’re a good human being – not a good patriot or citizen.
 
For the first time in history, there’s a team that represents not a nation, but the entire refugee population in the world.  Competing in Rio 2016 in various events like judo, swimming, track and field and judo, this team has no official country because its members have been displaced and cast from their homes; by war, famine, ethnic, religious, and racial strife, and more war.
 
I’d like to introduce you to the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT).
 
In fact, these ten athletes will compete as the first-ever Refugee Olympic team to honor the 19 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world. Named by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), these ten athletes come from five different countries, and all have unique stories of how they were displaced and cast out.

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But one thing in common: they may have adopted nations now, but cannot go home.
 
“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the word. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honour and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium.”
 
The international refugee situation has, unfortunately, gotten markedly worse in the last few years, reaching crisis levels. Too often, refugees are women and children that face insurmountable odds and danger of exploitation, violence, and trafficking. However, just four years ago during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, there were only 11 million refugees in the word. But that number has skyrocketed by nearly three-quarters since, due to conflicts in Syria, Iran, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Some of them were Olympic-level athletes for their home countries before they were forced to flee for their lives, like Judo athletes Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika from Congo. Others, like swimmer Yusra Mardini from Syria, swam not for sport but for survival when her family’s boat broke down on their way from Turkey and Greece. The shared experience forged and bonded other athletes, like the five-man team of Sudanese runners who were discovered while living in a refugee camp.
 
When these ten proud and distinguished Olympians march under their own flag during the opening ceremonies, wear the colors of their new team, and compete against the best of the best in the world, whether they win gold medals or lose, they’ll win our hearts.
 
Here are the athletes of the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team (ROT):
 
¥          Rami Anis (M): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Belgium; sport – swimming
¥          Yiech Pur Biel (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
¥          James Nyang Chiengjiek (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 400m
¥          Yonas Kinde (M): Country of origin – Ethiopia; host NOC – Luxembourg; sport – athletics, marathon
¥          Anjelina Nada Lohalith (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
¥          Rose Nathike Lokonyen (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
¥          Paulo Amotun Lokoro (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
¥          Yolande Bukasa Mabika (F): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – Judo
¥          Yusra Mardini (F): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Germany; sport – swimming
¥          Popole Misenga (M): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – Judo
 
So please join me and cheer loud and proud for #TeamRefugee because they represent the true spirit of the Olympics – and the best of human kind.

- Norm :-)

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