Eight athletes who fled conflict and persecution in their homelands are hoping to earn medals in six sports as part of an international refugee team competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games, which begin in Paris next week.
As they finalise their preparations for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, members of the Refugee Paralympic Team have been training in Reims, eastern France.
Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the training camp is the first time the athletes have come together as one team.
"It has been fantastic to bring the team together for the first time to benefit from such world-class sport facilities," Paralympian and mission leader Nyasha Mharakurwa told the IPC.
"I’m really proud of how quickly the athletes have come together," he said.
"On paper, we thought this might be a challenge bearing in mind the diversity of the team and the differences in language and culture.
"In reality, however, they have built relationships and shown support for each other from day one, united by the fact that at Paris 2024 they are part of something much bigger than themselves."
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'Message of perseverance'
The team of eight athletes and two guide runners is the largest Refugee Paralympic Team in history. They will compete in six different sports: para-athletics, para-powerlifting, para-table tennis, para-taekwondo, para-triathlon, and wheelchair fencing.
Among them is Ibrahim Al Hussein, a Syrian athlete who will be competing in para-triathlon. Al Hussein lost his right foot and parts of his left foot in 2012 during the civil war that ravaged his country and forced him to flee to Greece.
"I left Syria in a wheelchair and I want to send a message of perseverance and hope to everyone who feels miserable or bad about themselves," Al Hussein told the Associated Press in Reims.
Living in refugee camps for years with little or no access to training centres, Al Hussein and his teammates overcame many obstacles to reach top sporting competitions.
"We are all proud to be members of the Refugee Paralympic Team and representing not just ourselves but the 120 million displaced people from around the world and the more than one billion people with disabilities," he told the IPC.
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Zakia Khudadadi, who won the 2023 European Taekwondo Championship in the 47kg category, will be the first team member to compete on the opening day of competition on 28 August.
Like every athlete, she is hoping to land a podium place – something no other refugee Paralympian has done yet.
"It would be a dream come true to be the first to ever win a medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team," Khudadadi, who is originally from Afghanistan and has been based in Paris since 2021, told the IPC.
"If that happens, I know how much inspiration and hope that would give to millions of people around the world, especially women and girls.
"It will show them that no matter how difficult the struggles they face, they should never give up."
(with newswires)
