The International Olympic Committee has identified 43 Olympic-caliber athletes who will be eligible to compete for the newly approved refugee team at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Guardian, IOC president Thomas Bach says the refugee team will likely include between five and 10 athletes depending on who qualifies.
“The final number of athletes that would make up this team depends of qualification criteria,” said IOC president Thomas Bach after a meeting of the body’s executive committee on Wednesday.
He added that the team would compete under the flag of the IOC.
“We have all been touched by the magnitude of this refugee crisis. By welcoming this team, we want to send a message of hope to all the refugees in the world.”
Among those tagged as potential refugee representatives are a Syrian swimmer, an Iranian taekwondo fighter and a judoka from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Not to get all sappy about the Olympic movement and all, but this is really the epitome of what the Games should be about: bringing together people from around the world and using sports to both escape from and raise awareness of much more serious things.
And in light of the recent stateside debate about refugees, from Syria specifically, it can’t hurt to give a face to refugees from around the world, within the comfortable confines of sports.
