Pinakamalaking refugee team, lalahok sa Paris Paralympics
Zakia Khudadadi made her Paralympic debut in the first ever taekwondo bout at the Games and shortly after escaping Afghanistan / Philip FONG / AFP
Ibinunyag ng International Paralympic Committee (IPC), ang isang nine-member refugee team para sa paparating na Paralympic games sa Paris.
Ang team ay binubuo ng walong competitors at isang guide runner. Lalaban ang mga ito sa taekwondo, athletics, triathlon, power lifting, table tennis at wheelchair fencing.
Sinabi ni IPC president Andrew Parsons, “The world has more than 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. Many live in dire conditions. These athletes have persevered and shown incredible determination to get to Paris 2024 and give every refugee around the world hope.”
Si Ibrahim Al Hussein ay lalahok sa ikatlo na niyang Paralympics para sa refugee team, ngunit mula sa swimming ay sa triathlon na siya lalaban.
Aniya, “I faced the challenge of putting together all the necessary equipment to compete in triathlon which can be expensive.”
Si Al Hussein ay dumating sa Greece mula Syria, sampung taon na ang nakalilipas.
Sinabi niya, “Sport has helped me integrate into society.”
Si Zakia Khudadadi, ay kumatawan sa Afghanistan sa covid-delayed Tokyo Games noong 2021 pagkatapos na pagkatapos lumikas sa bansa makaraan ang pag-takeover ng Taliban, habang si Hadi Hassanzada naman ay lalaban sa parataekwondo.
Si Hassanzada ay ipinanganak sa Afghanistan at lumaki sa Iran.
Kuwento niya, “I returned to Afghanistan thinking that the country had become peaceful. I was wrong. I fled. Living in the forests of Turkey with my friends in the cold of winter, there were times when I was close to death.”
Aniya, “My journey to the Paralympics showed refugees can succeed despite all the problems they face.”
Naging kalahok naman sa sprint si Guillaume Junior Atanganga para sa Cameroon sa Tokyo bago umalis patungong Britain.
Sabi niya, “My training for the 100m and 400m T11 events in Paris was hampered when my guide, a fellow refugee, Donard Ndim Nyamjua was injured. Many people wanted to be on the team. So, I have had to pull out all the stops to be the best.”
Lalaban din sa track and field ang shot putter na si Salman Abbariki sa ikalawa niyang paralympics.
Nagwagi naman ng isang German title noong 2022 sa isang championship para sa able-bodied athletes, si Hadi Darvish, na isang refugee mula sa Iran.
Ang kukumpleto sa team ay si Sayed Amir Hossein Pour, na nanalo ng Asian junior table tennis titles na kumatawan sa Iran, at ang wheelchair fencer na si Amelio Castro Grueso.
Ayon sa chef de mission ng team na si Niyasha Mharakurwa, na kumatawan sa Zimbabwe sa wheelchair tennis sa London 2012 Paralympic Games, “No matter how difficult their circumstances, these athletes have found a way to compete at the very highest level of Paralympic sport.”
Dagdag pa niya, “They are not just representing the forcibly displaced people worldwide but the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.”
Ang Opening Ceremony para sa Paralympics ay gaganapin sa August 28, sa kahabaan ng Champs-Elysees at Place de la Concorde sa Paris.
