Refugee Olympic team bids for first ever medal

CGTN Europe

Iranian-born female athletes Saman Soltan, a kayaker, and weightlifter Yekta Jamali Galeh are among the 36 athletes that make up this year’s Olympic refugee team. The refugee team was set up in 2016 and is yet to win a medal but hopes are high this time around. The team includes athletes from Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan and will compete in 12 different sports during the 17 day international multi-sport event.   #paris2024 #olympics #refugees

Transcript

00:00I was in Uzbekistan in 2018.

00:02Saman Soltani has always been a successful athlete.

00:05She started swimming at the age of five

00:07in her home country of Iran.

00:09She then moved into kayaking, winning multiple medals

00:12for the national team, including a silver

00:14at the Asian Games in 2018.

00:17However, she thought that her dreams of becoming an Olympian

00:21were simply impossible.

00:23I watched my first Olympics when I was four years old.

00:25And then every four years, I watched the Olympics

00:27and I loved to be there.

00:29So it was impossible for me when I was in Iran.

00:32And I gave up this dream, you know?

00:35But when I arrived in Austria, I saw

00:37that this dream can come true.

00:39Following anti-government protests in Iran,

00:42Saman sought asylum in Austria in 2022

00:46and admits that at first, life in Vienna

00:48was difficult as a refugee.

00:51But determined not to give up, Saman

00:53found her way back into kayaking and a very rigid training

00:57schedule.

00:57Come on, Saman.

00:58Next one is Max again.

00:59So every day, I wake up 6 o'clock in the morning

01:02and then I eat breakfast.

01:03And then I will go to my first training in the Danube

01:08in Vienna.

01:08And afterward, I will go to weightlifting and physio

01:13and for my nutrition.

01:15Then afterward, I do gym training.

01:18And then I will go back again to paddling.

01:22Meanwhile, in the West German city of Leimen,

01:2419-year-old Jekta Jamali Ghalay is also

01:28busy training for her chance to show

01:30the world her sporting talents.

01:32Having also fled Iran alone at the age of just 17,

01:37her strength doesn't only come from the weights she lifts.

01:44The story that she has behind her,

01:46immigrating from a country at the age of 17

01:48alone and with her parents and family back home,

01:51I mean, that says a lot about a person.

01:53And people like that have something special in them

01:55that will help them to benefit more in regular life

01:58and in sport.

01:58I think that these are the types who

02:00achieve something extraordinary.

02:02Jekta was introduced to weightlifting by her sister

02:05back in Iran and now boasts a personal best of 130 kilos,

02:11the weight of an average refrigerator.

02:13She says a place on the refugee team

02:15has provided the opportunity to reach her Olympic dreams.

02:20But she's also hoping to one day raise

02:22the bar for Germany.

02:25I started a new life here.

02:27Everyone here is helping me.

02:29And my wish or my goal now is for a good future.

02:32Everyone says that the Olympics is their big goal and dream.

02:36We have to see how the day goes.

02:38Every day, I want to be better than yesterday.

02:41Alongside athletes from Iran, sportsmen and women

02:44from 11 countries, including Syria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia,

02:48and the DRC will compete on the refugee team

02:51in 12 different sports during the games.

02:54Countless stories of courage and unrelenting determination

02:58encompass each one of the Olympic refugee team's 36

03:03athletes.

03:04Saman and Jekta did not want to speak about their former lives

03:08in Iran.

03:09But they are both very proud of where they've come from

03:12and especially where they're going.

03:14Natalie Carney for CGTN in Leimann, Germany.

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