The Olympics are a multisport competition, which is not only based on the panoply of sports, but on nations sending their best for competition.
Emphasis on “nations.”
But the complicated nature of world politics of the last 50 years has resulted in territories or undefined nation-states having their own Olympic teams, such as Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands, and Aruba. Too, there is the complication of the ban of Russia from the Olympics, which has led to individual athletes with Russian or Belarussian passports who can qualify to compete.
There is also a group of athletes which are managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation, who compete as the Refugee Olympic Team.
These 37 athletes have fled government repression from the likes of Afghanistan, Cuba, and Iran in order to compete.
Last Sunday, the first medal ever for the Refugee Olympic Team was guaranteed, as Cindy Ngamba, a Cameroon-born boxer, made the semifinal round of the 75kg women’s boxing class.
The Ngamba family fled Cameroon and found their way to England, where she discovered boxing. She became a championship-level boxer, winning three national championships. But she chose to compete with Olympic Refuge Foundation funds as part of the Refugee team, and will meet a Panamanian boxer Thursday for a shot at the gold. Even if she loses, she still gets a bronze medal (boxing awards two bronzes in each weight class).
“I want to say to refugees all around the world – [including] refugees who are not athletes around the world – keep on working, keep on believing in yourself, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to,” Ngamba tells the U.N. news services.
I, for one, think this may be the best story of the entire Olympics.
