The two athletes who will be carrying the Olympic flag on behalf of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are boxer Cindy Ngamba and taekwondo athlete Yahya Al-Ghotany. This was announced on July 23 during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris.
Ngamba, who lives and trains in the United Kingdom, is one of two refugee athlete scholarship-holders who made history by qualifying for the Olympic Games at the Boxing Road to Paris 1st World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, held last March. She was born in Cameroon and moved to the UK at the age of 11. Ngamba found a second family with the GB Boxing Team and is a three-time English national champion. She aims to celebrate her participation in Paris with her mother and other family members who live in the French capital.
Ngamba said: “It’s an honour for me to represent this special team and carry the flag for the millions of us around the world. I am very grateful to the IOC for this special opportunity. My biggest hope is that, at this year’s Olympic Games, we can make people stand up and pay attention. Show them what refugees are capable of, because we have some big ambitions.”
The first of a family of seven children, Al-Ghotany had no choice other than to leave Syria with his family to find a safer place when the war broke out. Once he arrived in the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, he started to practise taekwondo. He now trains twice a day as part of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF)’s Azraq Academy. After only five years of practising his sport, he reached black belt 2nd dan level.
Al-Ghotany said: “It means a lot to me to carry this special flag for this unique team. At the Opening Ceremony, I will be thinking about everyone that has helped me on my journey – my friends, my family – but also the more than 100 million people around the world, who, just like me, have had to flee their homes. I represent all of them.”
The Refugee Olympic Team is made up of 37 athletes from different backgrounds, living in 15 countries and competing in 12 different sports. Appearing for the third consecutive Olympic Games, the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024 is the largest yet, reflecting the growing number of refugees globally. In Paris, the Team will represent more than 100 million displaced people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to ever increasing conflict, wars and persecution.
Both athletes benefit from Refugee Athlete Scholarships that are funded by Olympic Solidarity. The Refugee Olympic Team and the Refugee Athlete Support Programme are managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation, which also supports hundreds of thousands of young people affected by displacement in communities around the globe through sport.
