Cuban athletesFernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez (canoeing) andRamiro Mora (weightlifting) were included in the preselection of theOlympic Refugee Team (ORF) that will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In addition to them, the Iranians Matin Balsini (swimming) and Aryan Saed Panah (boxing) also entered the preselection, as well as the Sudanese Musa Suliman (athletics).
The five new Refugee Athlete Scholarships will be supported to train and compete with the goal of being selected to represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024.
Until now,A total of 74 athletes from 12 countries, living in 24 host countries and representing 14 sports will have the possibility of accessing said team.
The official team of refugee athletes will be announced by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach during a special event on May 2.
To be eligible for the program, athletes must be elite competitors in their respective sport and be refugees in their host country, recognized by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The IOC Executive Commission (EC) will decide the composition of the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024, taking into account the sporting performance of each athlete. A balanced representation in terms of sport, gender and regions will also be taken into account.
The Refugee Athlete Support program is managed by the ORF and funded through the IOC Olympic Solidarity.
Fernando Dayan Jorge EnriquezHe began competing in international events in 2015. He finished sixth in his first Olympic Games in Rio 2016. In Tokyo 2020 he reached the top,winning a gold medal in the men's 1000 meters C-2 along with his compatriot Serguei Torres.
The Cienfuegosleft a training base in Mexico in March 2022. Something that his kayak partner, Fidel Vargas, imitated. In less than two weeks, both athletes managed to cross the border and set foot on American soil.
During the trip, Fernando Dayán Jorge Enríquez captured the attention of the international media by help a young Cuban woman while they crossed the Rio Grande.
“What followed was a challenging period during which he had to simultaneously work and train in difficult conditions. “Fernando now resides in Florida and trains daily at a channel near his home with the support of his coach, Alain,”review the IOC in the athlete's biographical note.
Since then, Dayán Jorge has persevered in his dream of returning to international competition. His talent was demonstrated in the United States by winningfour gold medals in the National Speed Canoe Championship, held in Sarasota, Florida.
In the case of Ramiro Mora, he is a Cuban weightlifter who holds multiple records in the 89 and 96 kg weight categories.
Mora landed in London from Havana as a circus trapeze artist in 2019. In 2023 he was proclaimed United Kingdom national weightlifting champion with a record included.
Both Cuban athletes could become the first from the island to be part of said team. In the last Olympic edition, swimmer Hanser García tried to join that selection, but failed to qualify.
The Olympic refugee team was created at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
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