Paris 2024 Paralympics: the largest Refugee Paralympic Team in history completes its preparations at Reims
With just a few days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, have a look at the eight Para athletes who will be representing the Paralympic Refugee Team this year.
While two of them defended the colours of the Paralympic Refugee Team at the Rio 2016 Games, and six at Tokyo 2020, there will be eight Para athletes at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Accompanied by two guides, Zakia Khudadadi (Para taekwondo), Guillaume Junior Atangana (Para athletics), Ibrahim Al Hussein (Para triathlon), Salman Abbariki (Para athletics), Hadi Darvish (Para powerlifting), Sayed Amir Hossein Hosseini Pour (Para table tennis), Amelio Castro Grueso (Wheelchair fencing) and Hadi Hassanzada (Para taekwondo) will represent this third Paralympic Refugee Team in its history at the Summer Games. Add to that the two guides Donard Ndim Nyamjua and Israel-Malachi Harrison, who will be accompanying Guillaume Junior Atangana, and the team is complete!
Led by Chef de Mission Nyasha Mharakurwa, who represented Zimbabwe at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in Wheelchair tennis, the delegation continues to grow from strength to strength, fielding eight Para athletes in six disciplines this year in the French capital.
Final preparations in Reims for the Paralympic Refugee Team
From 12 August to 21 August, the eight Para athletes gathered at the Centre for Resources, Expertise and Sport Performance (CREPS) in Reims to fine-tune their skills before heading to Paris for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games. Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) with the support of the French Ministry of Sport and Paris 2024, this is the very first time that the Paralympic Refugee Team has come together for a few days before the Games.
“I’m really proud of how quickly the athletes have come together. On paper, we thought this might be a challenge bearing in mind the diversity of the team and the differences in language and culture. In reality however, they have built relationships and shown support for each other from day one, united by the fact that at Paris 2024 they are part of something much bigger than themselves,” Nyasha Mharakurwa told IPC.
Ibrahim Al Hussein agrees: “I feel like we are much more than a team, we are a family. It’s incredible to see how much we have in common because of the difficult journeys we’ve all gone through. It’s like with our common struggles, we’ve known each other all our lives. We are all proud to be members of the Refugee Paralympic Team and representing not just ourselves but the 120 million displaced people from around the world and the more than one billion people with disabilities,” he added.
Last Sunday, the eight athletes enjoyed a special moment in Reims with local schoolchildren, who gave them a personal message of support and drew pictures to show how inspired they were by the athletes and their stories. The day ended with smiles all round, as the athletes took photos with the children, while wearing - for the first time - the outfits they will be wearing during the competitions in Paris.
Paralympic refugee team aims to win a medal
Just as boxer Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba did a few days ago, when she became the first athlete from the refugee team to win a medal at the Olympic Games, the Paralympic team wants to do the same in Paris.
"It would be a dream come true to be the first to win a medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team", says Para taekwondoist Zakia Khudadadi, who has been living in Paris since 2021.
The Paralympic Refugee Team will be the first to march down the Place de la Concorde on 28 August, during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. With one idea in mind: to make a lasting impression and mark the history of the Games.