The Refugee Olympic Team that competed in Tokyo 2020 won the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Sport
Agencies
España.- The Foundation and the Refugee Olympic Team of the International Olympic Committee (COI), created to support and offer potential elite athletes with refugee status from the United Nations the opportunity to qualify and participate in the Olympic Gameshave been distinguished this Wednesday with the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports 2022.
The Refugee Olympic Team was created in 2015. That year, the IOC asked the different national committees to identify, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to refugee athletes whose athletic level has the potential to qualify for the Games. This in order to offer them the possibility of doing so through scholarships from Olympic Solidarityan aid project for IOC athletes.
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with the judoka Popole Misengafrom Democratic Republic of Congoas the flag bearer at the opening ceremony, the team competed for the first time in Rio de Janeiro 2016 with the participation of ten athletes who came from Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria y South Sudanwho participated in athletics, judo and swimming.
In Tokio 2020, the Refugee Olympic Team roster, which is represented by the Olympic flag, was made up of twenty-nine athletes from thirteen national committees. These were chosen from a first preselection of fifty-five, who competed in twelve disciplines.
On that occasion, Yusra Mardini (Syrian swimmer) and Tachlowini Gabriyesos (Eritrean marathon runner) were the flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Furthermore, the Iranian taekwondo player Kimia Alizadeh He won the bronze medal in his discipline.
#LAST MINUTE: The Foundation and the Refugee Olympic Team have been awarded the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.#AwardsPrincessofAsturias pic.twitter.com/9GpeYLYqNK
— Fundación Princesa de Asturias (@fpa) May 25, 2022
Olympic Refugee Foundation: to the rescue of young athletes
Two years after the creation of the Team, the IOC created in 2017, in collaboration with UNHCR, the Olympic Refugee Foundation. This is committed to supporting the protection and sporting and personal development of displaced athletes, beyond the Olympic events.
The Foundation works with international organizations and private companies to promote cooperation programs through sport.
Protecting young people from violence and social exclusion, promoting access to education, health (with special attention to mental health in its latest initiatives) and sports practice are, among other purposes, the main lines of the strategy work of the twelve programs that the Foundation has launched since its creation. So far, around two hundred thousand young people have already benefited.
These projects have already been developed in eight countries: Colombia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Turkey y Uganda. The goal is to reach a million young people benefited in 2024,
What is the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports?
Los Princess of Asturias Awards for Sports They have been granted since 1987. They are intended for that person or institution that has contributed with their efforts to the improvement, cultivation, promotion or dissemination of sports.
Each award consists of a diploma, a sculpture of Joan Miroan insignia of the Prince of Asturias Foundationy 50 thousand euros. If the prize were shared, each awardee would have the proportional part.
All winners in previous editions can present candidate proposals. Also those personalities and institutions whom the foundation invites, the Spanish embassies, the diplomatic representations in Spain, the members of each of the juries regarding the other awards, as well as personalities and institutions of recognized prestige.
The bid for the Refugee Olympic Team was proposed by John Anthony Samaranch Salisachsvice president of International Olympic Committeeand supported, among others, by Pau GasolPrincess of Asturias Award for Sports 2015, and Roxana Maracineanuformer minister delegate attached to the Minister of National Education, Youth and Sport of France.
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The Foundation and the Refugee Olympic Team thus take over the Princess of Sports Award for the swimmer Theresa Peralesthe most successful Paralympian in history, winner of 27 medals in five games.
Twenty-four candidates of ten nationalities opted for the award, including those of the athlete Allyson Felixthe gymnast Simone Bilesmotorcyclists Valentino Rossi y Marc Marquez and the badminton player Carolina Marín.
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