Two Sudanese athletes among Refugee Olympics Team in Paris
Rana Hani and Ziad Selim (wearing sashes) at the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony in the Seine river in Paris, France. (Photo: Sudan Olympic Committee via Facebook)
As the Paris 2024 Olympics kick off in the French capital, six Sudanese competitors, including two representing the Refugee Olympic Team, are preparing to showcase their talent on the world stage.
Launched in 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refugee team is meant to represent forcibly displaced people worldwide at the games. This year, the Refugee Olympic Team features two athletes of Sudanese origin.
Jamal Abdelmaji, who fled Darfur and separated from his family as a teenager, will be competing in his second Olympics in athletics. Also from Sudan, 20-year-old Musa Suliman left for Egypt at the age of nine before settling in Switzerland in 2021 as a refugee. He will also compete in athletics.
Representing Sudan at the Olympics, swimmers Rana Hani and Ziad Salim are poised to make their Olympic debut. 15-year-old Rana Hani will compete in the 100-metre freestyle tomorrow.
Ziad Salim, who achieved notable success at the last African Championship with two gold and one silver medal, aims to replicate his triumphs at the Olympics. He will compete in the 200-metre backstroke on Wednesday.
Sudan’s representation extends beyond the swimming pool. Ahmed Abdallah, aged 27, will compete in rowing, as will 22-year-old Abdallah Yasin, who will showcase his talent in athletics.
Since the onset of war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, the warring rivals have shown no respite for civilian infrastructure.
Sports have certainly not been spared. Khartoum’s Sport City, reportedly used by the RSF as a military camp, has faced repeated shelling since the beginning of the war. Sudan’s biggest football club, El Hilal, announced in March that they would be playing their next season in Tanzania.
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