What to know about the Refugee Olympic Team

Posted by Newsroom Staff August 3, 2024

Refugee Olympic Team - Credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Refugee Olympic Team – Credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images

The Refugee Olympic Team was created to help support athletes impacted by the global refugee crisis in training and qualifying for the Olympic Games.

When was the first Refugee Olympic Team formed?

The 2016 Rio Games marked the first Olympics at which a Refugee Olympic Team assembled.

How does the Refugee Olympic Team work?

The IOC’s initiative is funded by a program offering National Olympic Committees (NOCs) “the opportunity to identify refugee athletes living in their countries and support them throughout their training, preparation and participation in high-level competitions.”

To be eligible, athletes must be elite competitors in their respective sport and be refugees in their host country, recognized by UNCHR, the UN Refugee Agency. Balanced representation in terms of sport, gender and regions will also be taken into consideration.

What does EOR stand for at the Olympics?

EOR is the Refugee Olympic Team tricode. It stands for the French term “Equipe Olympique des Refugies.”

Between Rio and Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) changed the team’s tricode from ROT to EOR.

Who is competing on the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris?

Who is Cindy Ngamba?

Cindy Ngamba is a boxer competing in women’s -75kg, looking to become the first member of the Refugee Olympic Team to win a medal.

She already made history by becoming the first member of the team, which initially competed in Rio, to earn her Olympic quota spot through qualifying.

Ngamba won three bouts at the 1st World Qualification Tournament – including two Referees Stops Contest – to claim her spot in Paris.

Based in Great Britain, Ngamba is originally from Cameroon. At she 25 was granted refugee status because of her homosexuality, which is illegal in Cameroon.

Refugee Olympic Team by the numbers

A breakdown of roster sizes, originating countries and sports.

Since Rio, the team has increased in roster size from 10 to 37, number of originating countries four to 15, and number of collective sports from three to 12.

How many refugees competed in Rio and Tokyo? How many went to Paris?

Since Rio, the Refugee Olympic Team has increased in roster size from 10 to 37.

  • Rio: 10 athletes (six men, four women)
  • Tokyo: 29 athletes (19 men, 10 women)
  • Paris (expected): 37 athletes

Which countries are part of the Refugee Olympic Team?

The number of EOR athletes’ originating countries has increased from four to 15 since Rio.

  • Rio: Four originating countries (Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Tokyo: 11 originating countries (Syria, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Iraq, Congo)
  • Paris (expected): 15 NOC hosts

Which sports do the Refugee Olympic Team athletes compete in?

In Rio, only three sports included Refugee Olympic Team athletes. Tokyo had 12, with Paris expected to have had the same.

  • Rio: Three collective sports (track and field, judo, swimming)
  • Tokyo: 12 collective sports (track and field, judo, swimming, badminton, boxing, canoe sprint, road cycling, karate, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling)
  • Paris (expected): 12 sports

How many medals have the Refugee Olympic Team won?

No athlete from the Refugee Olympic Team has ever won a medal at the Games.

Prior to Paris, the team’s best results came in Tokyo with two fifth-place finishes:

  • Hamoon Derafshipour, karate (men’s kumite 67kg/147 lbs.)
  • Kimia Alizadeh, taekwondo (women’s featherweight -57kg/126 lbs.)

SEE MORE: Meet the Paris 2024 Refugee Paralympic Team

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