She and her family members travelled through a further seven countries before arriving in Germany where she now resides. Mardini’s journey didn’t end once she made it the island of Lesbos in Greece that was simply the beginning. That took us three hours and a half until we reached the shore.” 'After that, two guys also jumped from either side, and we tried with one hand to put it on the rope and then do kicks to stabilise the boat and so on. She started screaming at me to go up to the boat even though we were both swimmers. “My sister jumped in the water from one side, and I jumped from the other side which she wasn’t very happy about.

The boat was already broken somehow and after 15 minutes the motor stopped it didn’t work anymore. Usually it’s like 10km, so it takes round about 45 minutes in these small dinghies. Only seven people are allowed on it, but we were 20 people. “We were on a dinghy that was supposed to be for vacation. It reveals her tremendous courage and tenacity for life: The story of Mardini’s 25-day long voyage captured headlines around the world. 'It’s like you’re living but there is no further goal in life” - Yusra Mardini She is one of 29 refugee athletes chosen to compete at this summer’s Games. Mardini will be able to relive the occasion again when she walks out with an even bigger refugee team at Tokyo 2020. “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.” She was standing for a people of her own, people beyond borders. It was the realisation that she was no different to her competitors hailing from countries all around the world. “The moment I entered the stadium, that changed the way I think about the word refugee.” Speaking in conversation with five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledeck y on Olympic Day, the 22-year-old swimmer reflected: The athletes applaud the crowd and then each other they all know what it takes to make a Games.įor 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. The home crowd roars in delight knowing the Olympic Games are coming. It is a moment of welcome, of celebration and of acknowledgement. 'Being excluded from the sports world is the same as being excluded from society, so I think it is important to take this opportunity to firmly lead to having positive discussions,' he said.Olympic Opening Ceremonies are quite unlike anything else in the world. Sugiyama, who also organises the city's annual pride march, became the first transgender person to be appointed to the Japanese Olympic Committee. 'We are happy that we have found a common path that makes it possible for the hockey team to make a socio-political statement,' Alfons Hoermann, the president of the confederation, said. It said the International Olympic Committee had approved its request to allow Lorenz to don the armband, just like Germany's Manuel Neuer, the captain of the national soccer team, did at Euro 2020 last month. The captain of the German women's hockey team, Nike Lorenz, will wear a captain's armband in rainbow colours to show solidarity with LGBTQ communities at all of her matches, the German Olympic Sports Confederation said.

'I think lots of people in the world think that Japan is the human rights defender, but it's opposite, because we don't have any marriage equality, we don't have any law to ban discrimination on sexual orientation or gender identity,' Gon Matsunaka, founder of Japan's first LGBTQ centre, Pride House said.įoreign teams are also bringing the message to Japan. Rights activists hope to use the Games as an opportunity to raise awareness and public support for LGBTQ issues. The Olympic charter bans discrimination and while Tokyo passed an anti-discrimination law three years ago, there are not the same legal protections for much of the rest of the country.

While Japan is known for its strong civil society and democracy, rights activists say it has a long way to go on addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) issues. 'I loved the sport of fencing, I didn't feel I could find a place for myself,' he said. He felt conflicted identifying as a woman in competitions and retired at 25. Sugiyama began fencing at the age of 10, rising through the ranks and eventually competing internationally for the Japanese women's team. Sports were very different when he was younger, he said, and discriminatory language was common. Fumino Sugiyama, a 39-year-old former fencer for the Japan national team and a transgender activist, said he was delighted to see the progress in diversity at the Games.

G. mc callum olympic games tokyo 2020