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| Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 Athletes compete under the Olympic flag. | |
| IOC code | EOR |
| Medals |
|
| Summer appearances | |
TheRefugee Olympic Team is a group made up ofindependent Olympic participants who arerefugees. In March 2016,International Olympic Committee (IOC) PresidentThomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world in order to raise global awareness of the scale of the migrant crisis in Europe. In September 2017, the IOC established theOlympic Refuge Foundation to supporting refugees over the long term.[1][2]
TheOlympic flag and theOlympic Hymn are used as team symbols. The participating athletes marched in the opening ceremony of the2016 Summer Olympics, with the team entering the stadium as the penultimate delegation, just before the host country. At the2020 and2024 Summer Olympics, the team entered the stadium second after Greece.[3]
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, the team used theIOC country code ROT. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, it was changed to EOR (an abbreviation of the FrenchÉquipe olympique des réfugiés). As of 2024, no refugee Olympic athletes had participated in theWinter Olympic Games, norYouth Olympic Games (regardless of Summer or Winter).
The team was awarded the 2022Princess of Asturias Award for Sport for giving athletes the opportunity inconflict zones and places wherehuman rights are violated, preventing them from performing their sporting and personal activities.[4]
Cindy Ngamba, a refugee fromCameroon, became the first person to win an Olympic medal for the Refugee Olympic Team, winning a bronze medal in thewomen's 75kg boxing event at the2024 Summer Olympics.[5]Kimia Alizadeh, who represented theRefugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, won bronze at the2022 European Taekwondo Championships while representing the Refugee Team, after previously winning bronze forIran at the2016 Summer Olympics, and before winning bronze forBulgaria at the2024 Summer Olympics.
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2020 Tokyo | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2024 Paris | 37 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 84 |
| 2028 Los Angeles | future event | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 151 | |
| Medal | Name | Games | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bronze | Cindy Ngamba | 2024 Paris |  Boxing | Women's middleweight |
This category was created in March 2016. The selection criteria include the sporting level, the official refugee status verified by theUnited Nations, the personal situation, and the background of each athlete.
At its meeting in Buenos Aires in October 2018, theInternational Olympic Committee decided to establish the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) for the2020 Summer Olympics. This decision built on the legacy of theRefugee Olympic Team in 2016 and was part of the IOC's commitment to play its part in addressing the global refugee crisis and in carrying the message of solidarity and hope to millions of refugee athletes around the world.
The IOC Session tasked Olympic Solidarity with establishing the conditions of participation and defining the team identification and selection process. These elements were carried out in close collaboration with the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the International Sports Federations, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and theUnited Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). On 20 June 2019, the IOC released the list of Refugee Athlete Scholarship holders who wished to join the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, Tokyo 2020. This announcement was made on World Athlete Day, celebrated every year on 20 June.
The 56 Refugee Athlete Scholarship holders include the 10 athletes who were part of the firstRefugee Olympic Team in 2016, new individual athletes, and a group of athletes preparing at theTegla Loroupe Refugee Training Center inKenya. All were assisted by Olympic Solidarity as part of its support program for refugee athletes. The IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Games consisted of 29 athletes—19 men and 10 women—hailing from 11 nations: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. These athletes competed across 12 sports: athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, canoeing, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling.[6]
SwimmerYusra Mardini, who competed in the 2016 Rio Games as part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, and marathon runnerTachlowini Gabriyesos were selected as flag bearers for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Games.[7]
