The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday announced the largest refugee Olympic team in history for the 2024 Paris Games, aiming to win their first medals.
Refugee teams were first introduced at Rio 2016 and will continue to participate in Tokyo 2020 for the third time.
The IOC has funded 74 refugee scholarships for the Paris Games, which will feature a team of 36 athletes. At the first Rio 2016, 10 athletes participated, but the number increased to 29 athletes for Tokyo 2020.
The players are from 11 countries, including 14 from Iran and five from Afghanistan and Syria.
The teams were announced via livestream, with IOC President Thomas Bach reading each athlete's name, followed by live shots of each athlete. Many responded with fist pumps, smiles and even tears of joy.
The team will be led by Chef de Mission Masouma Ali Zada, who competed on the refugee team in the Tokyo 2020 road cycling event.
The team's new emblem was also unveiled on Thursday, and the players will wear it at the opening ceremony in Paris. The team was previously completed under the Olympic rings logo.
The news comes a day after Angelina Nadai Roharis, a two-time refugee athlete who competed in the 1,500m track and field event, was suspended after testing positive for the banned drug trimetazidine (TMZ).
She becomes the third refugee athlete in recent months to violate doping authorities and could face a four-year ban.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
