She captured the world's attention with her remarkable story at Rio 2016. Now Mardini is back and her mission is two-fold: to thrill in the pool and to remind everyone of the value of refugees.
By Chloe Merrell
(OLYMPICS) Olympic Opening Ceremonies are quite unlike anything else in the world.
It is a moment of welcome, of celebration and of acknowledgement. The home crowd roars in delight knowing the Olympic Games are coming. The athletes applaud the crowd and then each other; they all know what it takes to make a Games.
For refugee athlete Yusra Mardini, when she walked out under the IOC Refugee Olympic Team flag at the Opening Ceremony in Rio 2016 it was quite simply life-changing.
Speaking in conversation with five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky on Olympic Day, the 22-year-old swimmer reflected:
“The moment I entered the stadium, that changed the way I think about the word refugee.”
It was the realisation that she was no different to her competitors hailing from countries all around the world. She was standing for a people of her own, people beyond borders.
“I know that I am maybe not carrying my country’s flag but I’m carrying the Olympic flag which represents the whole wide world.”
Mardini will be able to relive the occasion again when she walks out with an even bigger refugee team at Tokyo 2020. She is one of 29 refugee athletes chosen to compete at this summer’s Games.
A second Games will mark another significant achievement in the life of the Syrian whose very survival once depended on her ability to swim.
“Me and my older sister decided because of war we weren’t safe. You went to school sometimes and there were bombings. In the pool there were also bombings.”
