Eight athletes and a guide runner are set to compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the largest refugee Paralympic team ever, the International Paralympic Committee announced Tuesday.
“All Paralympic athletes have stories of incredible resilience, but the stories of these athletes and their journeys as refugees who survived war and persecution to compete at the Paralympic Games are extraordinary and inspiring,” said Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Representing more than 120 million forcibly displaced people and 1.2 billion people with disabilities worldwide, the eight athletes are based in six countries and will compete in six sports: Para Athletics, Para Weightlifting, Para Table Tennis, Para Taekwondo, Para Triathlon and Wheelchair Fencing.
“These athletes have persevered and shown incredible determination to get to Paris 2024 and give hope to refugees everywhere. The Refugee Paralympic Team highlights the transformative impact of sport,” added Parsons.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stressed, for his part, that “refugees thrive when they are given the opportunity to use, develop and showcase their skills and talents, in sports and in many other areas of life.”
« Au HCRwe are extremely grateful to the IPC as a key player in our growing international partnership to bring sport to refugees. Sport is essential to their mental and physical well-being, as well as their inclusion and integration into the communities that host them,” he added.
” Never stop dreaming “
Now living in Italy, Amelio Castro Grueso is set to compete in wheelchair fencing in Paris. After enduring the death of his mother in Colombia at just 16, he faced further tragedy four years later when he lost the use of his legs in a car accident.
He was later forced to flee his country due to threats, arriving in a new country in a wheelchair without knowing the language or anyone to help him.
After a long road to recovery, he vowed to write a book to share his story – but he realized more people would read it if he was a medal-winning athlete.
Among his greatest sporting achievements to date, Mr. Grueso won bronze in the men’s epee B category at the 2024 Americas Wheelchair Fencing Championship in Brazil last May.
His experience has shown him that, even in the midst of enormous difficulties, the most important lesson in life is to never give up.
“Never stop dreaming and no matter what difficulties your life or the moment you are facing, don’t give up, keep fighting. The day you least expect it, you will find the light at the end of the tunnel and that wonderful moment will come when everything will change for the better,” he said.
“A model for us all”
Among the other participants is Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al Hussein. After losing his leg in an explosion while trying to save his friend during Syria’s civil war in 2012, he fled to Greece in a wheelchair, with no money in his pocket.
This will be Mr Hussein’s third successive Paralympic Games representing the Refugee Paralympic Team.
For his part, Cameroonian Guillaume Junior Atangana is preparing for his second Paralympic Games after finishing fourth in the 400 metres T11 at Tokyo 2020.
Although he originally wanted to become a great footballer, he turned to athletics when he lost his sight.
This year, he will line up alongside his guide and fellow refugee Donard Ndim Nyamjua.
“Never stop believing”
While the stories of all participants echo the immense adversity each of them has faced, one message shines through time and time again: nothing is impossible.
“The Refugee Paralympic Team is a role model for us all. No matter how difficult their circumstances are, these athletes have found a way to compete at the highest level of Paralympic sport,” said Nyasha Mharakurwa, Refugee Paralympic Team Leader.
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