On October 26, 2015, the International Olympic Committee announces the creation of the first Olympic refugee team, drawing attention to the plight of forcibly displaced people around the world. The declaration, delivered at the United Nations, provided support for athletes displaced by conflict, persecution or human rights violations—and announced a new opportunity to “build a peaceful and better world for all through sport.”
More than 200 national teams have competed at the modern Olympic Games since their inception in 1896, but for the first time in 2016, athletes forced into exile from their home countries had a team all their own. The Olympic Refugee Team made its first appearance during the Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016, fielding 10 refugee athletes from four countries, including a marathoner, five medium-distance runners, two swimmers and two judokas.
The inaugural team included athletes from Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in 2016 that their participation in the Olympics was “a tribute to the courage and perseverance of all refugees in overcoming adversity and building a better future for themselves and their families.”
The official creation of the Olympic Refugee Team took place at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in 2015, where IOC Chairman Thomas Bach spoke of the natural connection between the purpose and intent of the Olympic Games and the mission of the United Nations. Bach quoted then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s previous statement that “Olympic Principles are United Nations Principles.”
At the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, 37 athletes on the team competed in 12 sports demonstrating to the world that refugees, who may not be able to go home, are still “an enrichment” to society. Cindy Ngamba won the first ever medal for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, winning bronze in the semi-final of the women’s boxing competition.
By 2024, the number of forcibly displaced people in the world reached more than 120 million, more than double the number from a decade earlier.
