The refugee delegation has already won two bronze medals at the Paris Paralympic Games. A historic success that commands respect and inevitably fuels ambitions. But growing a team of this nature represents many challenges.
Eight athletes, two medals, and the Paralympics aren’t over yet. That’s quite a ratio presented by the refugee delegation, for which the taekwondoist Zakia Khudadadi and the blind 400m runner Guillaume Atangana and his guide Donard Ndim Nyamjua brought back the first two medals in the very young history of this unique team, born in Rio in 2016. With two athletes at the start, then six in Tokyo and now eight in Paris, the refugee delegation is slowly growing, and will now be able to grow on a bed of medals. Because these two pieces of bronze will inevitably inspire some, among the 120 million refugees in the world, to persevere in their sport, even though their life on the move rarely provides a framework conducive to high performance.
Also read2024 Paralympic Medal Table
- RFI