Olympic Opening Ceremonies are quite unlike anything else in the world.
It is a moment of welcome, of celebration and of acknowledgement. The home crowd roars in delight, knowing the Olympic Games are coming. The athletes applaud the crowd and then each other; they all know what it takes to make games.
For refugee athlete Yusra Mardini, when she walked out under the IOC Refugee Olympic Team flag at the Opening Ceremony in Rio 2016 it was quite simply life-changing.
Speaking in conversation with five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky on Olympic Day, the 22-year-old swimmer reflected:
“The moment I entered the stadium, that changed the way I think about the word refugee.”
It was the realization that she was no different to her competitors, hailing from countries all around the world. She was standing for a people of her own, people beyond borders.
“I know that I am maybe not carrying my country’s flag ,but I’m carrying the Olympic flag which represents the whole wide world.”
Mardini will be able to relive the occasion again when she walks out with an even bigger refugee team at Tokyo 2020. She is one of 29 refugee athletes chosen to compete at this summer’s Games.
Olympic Opening Ceremonies are quite unlike anything else in the world.
It is a moment of welcome, of celebration and of acknowledgement. The home crowd roars in delight, knowing the Olympic Games are coming. The athletes applaud the crowd and then each other; they all know what it takes to make games.
For refugee athlete Yusra Mardini, when she walked out under the IOC Refugee Olympic Team flag at the Opening Ceremony in Rio 2016 it was quite simply life-changing.
Speaking in conversation with five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky on Olympic Day, the 22-year-old swimmer reflected:
“The moment I entered the stadium, that changed the way I think about the word refugee.”
It was the realization that she was no different to her competitors, hailing from countries all around the world. She was standing for a people of her own, people beyond borders.
“I know that I am maybe not carrying my country’s flag, but I’m carrying the Olympic flag which represents the whole wide world.”
Mardini will be able to relive the occasion again when she walks out with an even bigger refugee team at Tokyo 2020. She is one of 29 refugee athletes chosen to compete at this summer’s games.
"It’s like you’re living but there is no further goal in life” - Yusra Mardini
The story of Mardini’s 25-day long voyage captured headlines around the world. It reveals her tremendous courage and tenacity for life:
“We were on a dinghy that was supposed to be on vacation. Only seven people are allowed on it, but we were 20 people. Usually it’s like 10km, so it takes round about 45 minutes in these small dinghies. The boat was already broken somehow and after 15 minutes the motor stopped; it didn’t work anymore.
“My sister jumped in the water from one side, and I jumped from the other side, which she wasn’t very happy about. She started screaming at me to go up to the boat even though we were both swimmers.
"After that, two guys also jumped from either side, and we tried with one hand to put it on the rope and then do kicks to stabilize the boat and so on. That took us three hours and a half until we reached the shore.”
Mardini’s journey didn’t end once she made it to the island of Lesbos in Greece; that was simply the beginning.
She and her family members travelled through a further seven countries before arriving in Germany, where she now resides.
You must be logged in to post a comment.