No medals, only victory
It's time to celebrate.
At the Tokyo Olympics, which closed on August 8, the refugee delegation with 29 athletes did not receive a medal.
At the closing ceremony, athletes from all over the world showed their gold, silver and bronze medals to the live footage of the International Olympic Committee.
However, the refugee delegation still has something to be proud of. For example, Taekwondo player Kimia and Marathon player Gabriezos both advanced to the semifinals, and there were five players who created their personal best.
The refugee delegation appeared in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2016, and the number of refugee contestants in Tokyo increased from 10 to 29.
Twenty-four of them were "one-round trips" out of the game, and most of them did not get the live close-up footage.
James Qianjieke received the most attention, because he unfortunately fell during the men's 800-meter preliminaries and was left last.
When he reached the finish line, his tears fell on the runway, "This is the most disappointing moment in my life."
"But next time I will do better." This is the second time Qian Jake has participated in the Olympics, and he hopes there will be a third time.
He was able to run as a child, crawling into the bushes, just to avoid being caught and become a boy scout.
In South Sudan, Qian Jieke's father died in the army, and they wanted him to replace his father in the war.
He fled to Kenya, where he was discovered as a middle-distance runner in a refugee camp.
When entering the Tokyo Olympics, the refugee delegation fought the five-ring flag.
On the flagpole are two pairs of hands with different skin colors.
Gabrielsos' hands had been plunged into hot gravel, and he walked across the African desert without water and food.
Mardini's hands were swollen by sea water. She swam in the Aegean Sea for three and a half hours, helping a small boat full of 20 people to reach Greece.
At the opening and closing ceremonies, the President of the International Olympic Committee Bach mentioned the refugee delegation.
"You have proved the significance of refugees to society with your talent and spirit. We welcome you with open arms and provide you with a peaceful home. Welcome to the Olympic community."
The 29 refugee athletes come from 11 war-torn countries such as Syria, South Sudan, and Afghanistan. Everyone's experience is about death and parting.
Swimmer Maldini participated in the Rio Olympics.
She still remembered the cheers erupting from the Maracanã Stadium when the camera passed by them.
She felt that she represented "a Syrian who ventured across the sea in order to live a life without a bomb."
For the Tokyo Olympics, there are supporters from different countries on the stands opposite the swimming pool.
Mardini stood alone on the starting platform, reminding himself to concentrate on the pool as he did 5 years ago.
She missed the semifinals again, but was 3 seconds faster than herself in 2016.
Five years ago, Maldini's best performance in the 100-meter butterfly was 9 seconds away from the Rio Olympics qualification standard.
The German Olympic Solidarity organization contacted Mardini's club, and she was qualified for the competition.
Refugee athletes do not need to meet the qualification standards set by the International Individual Sports Federation. The IOC determines the entry list based on the usual training results, personal experience, and whether they have refugee status confirmed by the United Nations.
But Maldini instinctively wanted to refuse to participate as a refugee, "that means bombs, seas, borders, barbed wire and humiliation."
On her way from Syria to Germany, she was squeezed into a damp and hot moldy carriage and squatted in a cornfield "like a fugitive" as she crossed the Hungarian border.
The horrible memories include the story that made her famous: When crossing the Aegean Sea, the boat broke down, she jumped into the water and held the boat until she reached Lesbos in Greece.
She doesn't like the media calling herself a "hero."
"I am not a hero, I just want to swim in the future." After landing, the joy of escaping from death lasted only a few seconds.
When they were shaking, the people in the store drove them away like stray cats, and refused to sell them food and water.
She was afraid that her refugee status would bring controversy and wanted to win the competition with her strength, but the coach asked her, "Isn't your dream of participating in the Olympics? Whether you represent Syria, Germany or refugees, you are swimming, right?"
The Olympics is her dream that has long been obscured by the flames of war.
In 2011, the "Arab Spring" swept the Middle East and North Africa.
In Syria, people had to close their blinds and turn on the TV during the day to watch the scrolling update of the death toll at the bottom of the screen.
The Maldini family kept moving in panic.
Their house was destroyed, "all memories are buried in rubble".
She did not have time to rescue her beloved photos and dolls.
At that time, Mardini jumped into the pool with anxiety about the future, dreaming of being able to represent Syria in international competitions in the future, until the bomb roared into the pool, or hit her on her way home from training.
She and her sister came to Germany very hard, and an interpreter at the refugee shelter helped her contact the swimming club.
After becoming one of the candidates for the refugee delegation, she received letters from all over the world, and one of the young people was in Syria.
His mother was killed in the war.
"Food is too expensive, I hardly eat." He wrote, "My life is very difficult, but you motivate me to keep going."
Maldini read the letter over and over again, and she decided to go to the competition.
For many people, competition is victory.
Even though Gabriezos has refugee status certified by the UN refugee agency, he has twice been unable to participate in international competitions due to visa issues.
Due to cross-border travel restrictions, he cannot participate in competitions that other world-class athletes often participate in.
"Participating in the Olympics is like'resurrection'." said a weightlifter from the refugee group, who has not participated in international competitions for 7 years.
Mardini’s compatriot and Rio Olympic swimmer Anis had been in Turkey for 4 years. Because he did not have Turkish nationality, he was banned from participating in swimming competitions in the country.
"It's like a person studying, studying, studying, but can't take the exam." Anis said.
The Judo men's and women's mixed team of the Tokyo Olympic Refugee Team consists of 6 members, who are from Syria, Congo, Afghanistan and Iran.
During the two months of training together, different languages and cultures created a lot of obstacles to their communication, but they quickly established trust.
One of the athletes said: "When the team training started, I was a little worried. But I found that we all have similar stories."
Although they were defeated in the first round against the German team, the six people laughed and embraced, "We will become stronger and come back again."
A UNHCR spokesperson said: "Sports is a process of interacting with people, meeting people, learning and acquiring new skills. It not only helps these refugees adapt to the new environment, but also helps them move into the future."
To the women's 800m athlete Loconi, running means freedom.
In South Sudan, women are not allowed to exercise, and there are rumors that exercise will make women infertile.
Even her father stopped her.
"But I have to run!" In an interview, she raised her right hand and tapped the palm of her left hand. "Anyone has the right to change their life through sports."
She ran from South Sudan to Kenya and was very unfamiliar with the "Olympics" at first.
When she was selected as a candidate for the Rio Olympics, she thought "Brazil is in Kenya."
"I have never run in my life." Muhammad, a track and field player, can only play football at his home in Sudan. The ball is made by kneading socks and torn T-shirts together.
When he was 8 years old, militiamen swept their village and killed 97 villagers including his father.
In 2013, he spent 72 hours on foot through the 60,000 square kilometers of Sinai Desert and fled to Israel.
When he first arrived in Israel, because of his low level of education, Muhammad could only build walls on the construction site and lived with seven other people in a small apartment with only one room.
Once I played football with a refugee friend, my friend found that he had good stamina and suggested that he join a local running club.
"In the beginning, it was just to express himself." Later, he fell in love with the joy of being able to "be yourself" while running.
But he couldn't achieve the same training intensity as a professional athlete, and he had to do several jobs at the same time.
In 2017, he won a scholarship for refugee athletes from the International Olympic Committee, quit his job and started full-time training.
In 2016, the International Olympic Committee established the Olympic Refugee Athlete Scholarship to encourage the National Olympic Organizing Committee to find refugee athletes with athletic potential and talent living in the country.
According to the 2020 report, 56 refugee athletes from 13 countries have received support for the project, and 29 people participating in the Tokyo Olympics are selected from it.
The International Olympic Committee has provided 3 million U.S. dollars and pays 1,500 U.S. dollars per athlete per month.
After the Olympics, this funding will continue.
Refugee athletes will return to their countries of asylum to continue their sports careers.
Four track and field athletes, including Qian Jieke and Lokoni, will return to the Loroupe training camp in Kenya to work hard for a place for the next Olympic Games. "No one here takes you as a target."
This training camp was founded by Loroupe, the former marathon world record holder and head of the Tokyo Olympic refugee delegation.
"Before the Olympics, no one wanted to approach us." Loroupe said, "They used to say bad things about us, not knowing that we are serious athletes. People are afraid that something will happen."
In the past 5 years, Maldini has participated in international competitions as a member of the FINA Independent Athlete Team. He has also become a best-selling author and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
After training, she went to the refugee camps to talk to refugees, and gave speeches on international occasions to remind everyone of the existence of the refugee crisis.
"No one chooses to become a refugee. A refugee is just a name for me and my situation. It does not represent my personality and what I am achieving." She said.
Like all girls who love beauty, she posted selfies with her girlfriends on social software.
Some netizens said that she "is not like a refugee", she retorted, "I am a refugee, it doesn't mean that I have to cry all the time."
Only she knows that nightmares at night often bring her back to the terrifying experiences of her youth.
When going to Hungary to participate in the competition, she would stay away from the train station, where she ran into the police on the way to escape and was almost taken to prison.
However, the Olympics cannot solve all problems.
Complicated political factors are still sharp swords hanging over them.
Mohammed, who lives temporarily in Israel, represented Israel in other competitions, but because of the tension between the two countries, he always worried that his family in Sudan would be affected.
After Sudan and Israel reached a new agreement to normalize relations, he was constantly living in fear of being deported back to Sudan.
Stephen Pattison, a staff member of the UN refugee agency, said that after the Olympics, refugee athletes urgently need more opportunities, whether it is competitions or making money.
From Rio to Tokyo, the number of refugee delegations has increased, and the number of refugees they represent has increased from more than 60 million to 80 million.
According to the latest report of the UN refugee agency, more than 160 countries have closed their borders during the peak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020.
Between 2018 and 2020, nearly 1 million children will become refugees at birth.
Many of them may still be refugees in the next few years.
The International Olympic Committee has decided that the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will continue to form a refugee delegation, "to send a signal of hope to the world."
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Jiao Jingxian Source: China Youth Daily