Meet the Syrian Alia Hussein, the first woman to participate in the refugee team at the Paralympic Games

Alia Issa, the first female athlete on the refugee Paralympic team, said Monday that her participation in the Tokyo Games was an "honour" for her and urged other disabled women to get more involved in the sport.

Issa will be one of the flag bearers of the refugee team at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games Tuesday in Tokyo, after it was postponed for a year due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.

Issa, 20, born in Greece to a Syrian family, will compete in the cane throwing competition and hopes other female athletes will follow her path.

"I would advise other women with disabilities not to stay at home, to try to exercise every day and to go out into the world. I hope to be an example for them," she told a press conference.

"I never expected in my life to participate in the Paralympic Games, and to be the first woman on the refugee team here in the Tokyo Games. This is a great honor for me," said the girl, whose father died when she was 16, after suffering from cancer.

When she was four, Issa contracted smallpox, which damaged her nervous system.

She is currently using a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking.

She started Paralympic sports three years ago and has been practicing stick throwing for two years.

She will carry the refugee team flag Tuesday with Afghan-born swimmer Abbas Karimi.

This is the second time a refugee team will participate in the Paralympic Games, after Rio 2016.

Team leader Ileana Rodrigues said Tuesday that six Paralympians represent "82 million displaced people around the world" and want to send a message of hope.

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