'We are the example to never give up': Refugee Olympic Team on their journey to Paris 2024
Words by Lizzie Ward
As athletes across the world prepare to represent their respective nations at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a team with something other than nationality in common is ready to make its mark.
The Refugee Olympic Team - comprised of 37 athletes from 15 different countries - has been putting the final training in ahead of its third Olympics.
The 2024 cohort is the largest yet, reflecting the growing number of refugees globally. The team represents more than 100 million displaced people.
The team will appear in second position at the opening ceremony, only after Greece, who traditionally appear first as a tribute to the birthplace of the ancient and modern Olympics.
Athletes spent several days in Normandy last week, training and team building, before arriving at the Olympic Village in Paris.
Many have spent years without a home, in asylum seeker centres without the space or means to train, and many credit sport with helping them cope with displacement, grief and trauma.
So who are some of the athletes who make up the 2024 Refugee Olympic Team?
Farzad Mansouri
Farzad Mansouri is a taekwondo athlete. In 2020, the then-19-year-old was the Afghan flag-bearer at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony.
Just a year later, he fled Afghanistan with only his Olympic kit as luggage, as tens of thousands tried to board evacuation flights when the Taliban returned to power.
He spent months in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi, before arriving in the UK where he settled in Manchester and began training for Paris.
Manizha Talash
Manizha Talash is a 21-year-old, who is also from Afghanistan.
She is competing in the new category, breaking, which is more commonly known as breakdancing. The sport is making its debut at this year's Olympics.
Talash first came across breakdancing at age 17, when she saw a video of a man spinning on his head on social media.
She subsequently found a club in Kabul where she began learning the sport. Soon, international news outlets published stories about the young Afghan woman defying cultural and religious norms.
After the club was shut down due to bomb threats, she began practising behind closed doors, before fleeing to Spain when the Taliban returned to power.
Farida Abaroge
Farida Abaroge is a 30-year-old runner who fled Ethiopia eight years ago due to persecution.
She found asylum in France in 2017 after travelling to Sudan, Egypt and Libya, where she was imprisoned.
Support from the International Olympic Committee allowed her to take two months unpaid leave from her job packing parcel deliveries.
Mohammad Amin Alsalami
Mohammad Amin Alsalami fled war-torn Syria before crossing the Mediterranean on a small boat to Greece, before trekking by foot to Germany.
It would be almost 10 years before the now-29-year-old was granted asylum in Germany. He is now competing in the long jump category - 14 years after finding his passion.
Many in the team will be looking to their predecessors for motivation and inspiration, such as Syrian-born Yusra Mardin, who competed as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016.
Her story about pulling a dinghy of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea became the subject of the Netflix film The Swimmers.
Hadi Tiranvalipour - an Iranian Taekwondo athlete competing this year - says he believes it is his "mission" to represent the 100 million displaced people.
He said: "We are the example that you have to keep going if you have a dream you have to keep going until you arrive at your goals."
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.