Rio Olympics refugee slogan: "I feel the love"

Introduction: On August 6, the stars of the Rio Olympics swimming competition shone brightly. First, the British swimming star Adam Peaty broke the men's 100-meter breaststroke world record, and then the Hungarian genius Hosezu The women's 400-meter individual medley set a new world record. However, when the 18-year-old Syrian girl Yusra Mardini emerged from the swimming pool, the audience gave her as much applause as any other champion.

Refugee athletes appeared at the Rio stadium and hung a slogan: I feel the love

On August 12, a year ago, when Mardini surfaced, she was still soaked in water. In the cold Aegean Sea, apart from the vast sea, there was only a small boat that broke down due to severe overloading, and more than ten people on the boat who were avoiding the war with her. Since most of the others on the boat could not swim, Mardini, who was already a key training target for the swimming program of the Syrian Olympic Committee at the time, stepped forward. In order to hope for survival, Mardini and his sister pushed the boat through the cold water. The boat swam for 3 hours and finally reached the coast of Greece.

Now, when Mardini surfaced, she saw the audience cheering and paying tribute to her. In the first group of the women's 100-meter butterfly preliminaries, Mardini won the first place in the group with a time of 1 minute, 09 seconds and 21 seconds. Although this result only ranked 41st among all 45 people, she was able to leave her war-torn homeland and leap into the world. In the Olympic swimming pool, she has completed the "impossible mission". Swimming not only helped her and her family escape from the freezing water, but now it has brought her hope to escape the "suffering sea" of her life.

Those who have rekindled hope through sports are also Maldini’s nine teammates in this Olympics. At the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics, a delegation of 10 refugee athletes walked into the Maracan? Stadium holding the Olympic five-ring flag, triggering deafening cheers from the audience. Each of them has his or her own tragic experience, but they are lucky enough to go through layers of selection and come to the Olympics on behalf of refugees all over the world, and change their life trajectories through sports.

From fleeing their homes to escape the war to competing in the Olympic Games that attracted worldwide attention, at least in these ten days, the lives of these refugee athletes have undergone earth-shaking changes. Facing countless spotlights and cameras, they went from feeling nervous and overwhelmed to relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere of the Olympics.

This is the first time that a refugee team has appeared in the Olympic Games, and the training and participation expenses of the athletes are borne by the International Olympic Committee. But the International Olympic Committee not only wants to pass the torch of hope to the 10 refugee athletes participating, but also wants to change the fate of more refugees through sports. According to International Olympic Committee President Bach, the formation of a refugee delegation can make the international community pay more attention to the refugee crisis. "Their presence at the Olympics has given hope to all refugees around the world," said Isabella, a staff member at the UN Refugee Agency and an official on the refugee delegation. The opening ceremony of this Olympic Games was broadcast live simultaneously in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, Africa. Five athletes in the refugee delegation came from this largest refugee camp in the world. When they entered the stadium, the 200,000 fellow refugees living here cheered for them. In the flag bearer Lockeye, these unfortunate people also felt hope and strength.

For the 10 athletes participating this time, keeping their lives on track through sports is their future goal. After being officially accepted as a refugee in Germany at the beginning of the year, Mardini began normal training at a swimming club, which made her look forward to her future life. "Syria and Germany are both my home. I have not yet decided who I will represent in the Tokyo Olympics," Mardini said. "Of course the International Olympic Committee is also my home."

I feel the love? Unlike other delegations that hung their own flags in the Olympic Village, the refugee delegation hung such a slogan outside their windows. It is sports that give them a chance to regain their lives, and they need to pass this hope through the Olympic Games to every refugee compatriot who is still struggling for life.