Refugee team for Paris bigger than Tokyo

BERLIN : A total of nine refugees will participate in the Paris Paralympics as members of the largest refugee team assembled, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Tuesday.

The athletes are based in six different countries and will compete across six sports – athletics, powerlifting, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and wheelchair fencing.

Apart from eight athletes, the team also includes a guide runner. The Tokyo Paralympics refugee team in 2021 comprised six athletes.

The Paralympics will be held between Aug. 28-Sept. 8, just over two weeks after the end of the Olympics in the French capital.

The first refugee teams for the Olympics and Paralympics were assembled for the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, in order to raise awareness of the issue as hundreds of thousands of people were pouring into Europe from the Middle East and elsewhere escaping conflict and poverty.

It quickly became one of the feelgood stories of those Olympics and Paralympics, with both the International Olympic Committee and the IPC deciding to included them in future events.

"Unfortunately, the world has more than 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide," said IPC chief Andrew Parsons.

"Many live in dire conditions. These athletes have persevered and shown incredible determination to get to Paris 2024 and give every refugee around the world hope."