Statelessness, spirit, and strength at the Olympic Games
#12: Meet the team representing 100m refugees in Paris. Plus Olympic chefs, purple tracks, extinct sports, and Kenyan marathon mastery...
Tales from the fringes of sport and society…
Over the next 17 days, 10,500 athletes will compete in 329 events as the 2024 Olympics officially commences today with a spectacular opening ceremony in Paris.
After spending four hours waving at crowds while moseying on down the river Seine, most of those athletes will head to bed dreaming of standing on a podium with a glittering hunk of metal around their neck, fighting tears as they listen to the opening bars of their national anthem.
But, for 36 of them, their anthem will not be heard regardless of their success. They are the members of the IOC’s refugee squad, made up of nationless athletes who’ve been forced to flee their homes to start a new life elsewhere.
After making its debut in Rio, this will be the team’s third appearance at the Games. Back in 2016, there were close to 60 million displaced people globally. On the eve of Paris 2024, that number has soared to over 100 million. That’s around 1 in 70 people living on our planet. Putting them all in one place would create the 14th most populous country in the world – and that population is increasing.
Especially in a year typified by highly emotive elections all over the world, there is a tendency to distil the topic of refugees and immigration to faceless numbers and dispassionate data. But each statistic has a human story behind it, and you’ll be able to read and listen to some of those in this month’s Off-Field newsletter.
When you see the refugees competing in Paris, you’ll see them at their physical peak as elite athletes. But the reason they’re a symbol of hope for refugees worldwide is because of what they’ve gone through to get there.
There are athletes fleeing war in Syria, some who've escaped the tyranny of the Taliban in Afghanistan, political exiles from Venezuela and Cuba, and others who've had no choice but to leave repressive regimes that threaten their human rights. They’ve found new homes all over the world, with nations including Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Jordan, Pakistan, Spain, Kenya, and Israel among those offering a safe haven.
Several of the team now proudly call the UK their home. Ramiro Mora is a Cuban weightlifter who originally arrived in the country as part of the Blackpool circus troupe and who now holds three British weightlifting records.
Taekwondo practitioner Farzad Mansouri was Afghanistan's flag bearer at the Olympics three years ago, but made his way to the UK following the fall of Kabul in September 2021.
Guillaume Junior Atangana and his guide Donard Ndim Nyamjua will compete as British-based refugees in the 100m and 400m T11 events at the Paralympics after having previously represented Cameroon at Tokyo in 2021.
Cindy Ngamba is a Bolton-based Cameroonian who, as a gay woman, is unable to return home due to her sexuality remaining a criminal offence. Given her success in British boxing rings, there are genuine hopes she’ll become the first refugee to win an Olympic medal.
And then there are two athletes from Iran who I had the great pleasure of speaking to for a new episode of Unsung - more on that below.
Over the next fortnight, the Olympic refugee team will remind us of the resilience, courage, and hopes of all those uprooted by war and persecution. They’ll be cheered on by millions: not just their fellow refugees, but many others who appreciate what they’ve been through. Best of luck to all of them in Paris.
In celebration of the sporting extravaganza we’re about to enjoy, this month’s newsletter is brimming with stories from the Olympics. As usual, we’ve dug out those that offer an alternative perspective. Enjoy the selection - if you do, please consider passing it on to a friend.
Beyond borders: A refugee’s journey to the Olympic Games
I’m delighted to get a new series of Unsung up and running in time for a busy sporting summer, and I’m especially proud of this opening episode featuring two of the athletes from the refugee team mentioned in the intro.
Matin Balsini and Dorsa Yavarivafa both hail from Iran. Given that almost half of this year’s Olympic refugees come from the Islamic Republic, it offers some indication as to just how bad the situation is for Iranian athletes.
Both had different reasons for leaving Iran, but what they have in common is the turmoil and heartache they endured leaving their friends and family behind, and the passion for their respective sports that helped get them through adversity. They may not win any medals, but their stories must be heard.
So do give it a listen and, if you don't already, make sure to subscribe so that you're the first to get new episodes as soon as they're released.
'We see war everywhere, people are losing their dreams': Olympic cyclist who fled Afghanistan aims to inspire hope
In the Autumn of 2015, Amir Ansari did something few of us could ever envisage. He crossed the Aegean Sea in a small rubber boat, with a single backpack carrying what remained of his personal belongings.
Just weeks earlier, the 16-year-old had fled his home in Afghanistan to escape persecution from IS and the Taliban. Now 24, Ansari is about to compete at the Olympic Games. This brilliant Cycling Weekly piece by Dan Challis profiles another of the refugee team's inspiring athletes.
Meet the chefs behind the world's biggest restaurant
Each time the Olympic Games comes around, you can be guaranteed that the weeks preceding it will feature dozens of stories about the athletes’ village. Whether it’s the amount of sex they’re about to have (“10,000 condoms handed out to randy Olympians”), interior design (“Athletes to doze on sustainable cardboard beds”) or the rules they must follow (“No champagne or smoking for party-starved Olympians”) no stone is left unturned as journalists bid to fill their copy quotas before the actual sport begins.
But I don’t recall ever seeing anything written about the mammoth task of feeding the 15,000 international athletes in the village. Emily Monaco does a wonderful job doing just that for the BBC's World's Table, meeting some of the 200 cooks charged with knocking up 40,000 meals every day.
During the two 15-day periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than 13 million meals will be served – the equivalent of the amount of food provided at 10 football World Cups.
Designing the Olympics: Joachim Roncin, director of design for Paris 2024
Ever wondered how the Olympics come up with their mascots? Well, the man who designed the quirky red Phryges - based on the caps worn during the French Revolution - is also responsible for everything from the look of the medals (which each feature a chunk of iron from the Eiffel Tower) to the colours of the kits worn by the volunteer stewards. His name is Joachim Roncin and this insightful Wallpaper* interview is included if only for this memorable line.
We had some people who worried it looked less like a Phrygian hat and more like a clitoris. If it helps men to understand what a clitoris looks like, then I am happy
Bandit Running's unsponsored project
Even the best athletes live or die by their funding, and sponsorship is therefore an integral part of their success. This piece by David Skilling for Culture of Sport highlights a brilliant initiative happening in the States, where Bandit Running, a New York athletic brand, is providing unsponsored athletes with custom-made unbranded kit to help them stand out in the hope of attracting sponsors.
As you find out in the piece, it's a clever idea that's working too. Here's hoping something similar takes off over here in the UK.
What can we expect from the opening ceremony? Artistic director Thomas Jolly gives us a few hints
Paris' opening ceremony promises to be unlike any other before it. It's not being held in a stadium for one thing. Instead, 300,000 spectators will line the banks of the Seine to watch the athletes float down the river, accompanied by a show that has been kept heavily under wraps.
Lady Gaga stranded on a rock playing the piano? Celine Dion knocking out some Edith Piaf? Gerard Depardieu eating six wild boars while dressed as Obelix? One of those might be made up, but if you're reading this after Friday evening, you'll know exactly what happened and how successful it was. For anyone reading before then, here's artistic director Thomas Jolly giving a few hints to Vogue.
Purple reign: why Paris Olympics track could be the fastest in history
The Games have barely begun but The Guardian’s Sean Ingle has already filed some formidable work from Paris (like this one about the contested marathon distance at the 1908 Olympics). And this analysis of the Stade de France’s swish new violet track - the company behind it, how it’s been made, and why it could be the fastest ever - is right up our street.
And can we take a moment to enjoy that headline? Princely stuff.
The extinct Olympic sport that was the 'dullest' of all time
A couple of months ago I wrote about potential future Olympic sports for BBC Sport (hello shameless plug), but what about former sports that are now extinct?
Zaria Gorvett has written about the distance plunge, a sport that is now (sadly) long gone. Probably because it simply required 'athletes' to jump in a pool of water and.... lie still. Shockingly, it was deemed too boring for spectators, but it's a shame as it sounds like the only Olympic sport I might have been any good at.
Running with the Kenyans, Adharanand Finn
“Right before you head out running, it can be hard to remember exactly why you're doing it. You often have to override a nagging sense of futility, lacing up your shoes, telling yourself that no matter how unlikely it seems right now, after you finish you will be glad you went. It's only afterwards that it makes sense, although even then it's hard to rationalise why. You just feel right. After a run, you feel at one with the world, as though some unspecified, innate need has been fulfilled.”
It'll come as no surprise that, in both the men's and women's marathon events, Kenyan athletes are the reigning Olympic champions. Long-distance running is a sport the country has long dominated and, in 2012, journalist Adharanand Finn decided to head to Kenya to find out why.
While he was there, in the ultimate act of "when in Rome", he decided to have a go at his first marathon. Running with the Kenyans is a breeze of a read, as Finn immerses himself in the culture, training regimens, and lifestyle of elite Kenyan athletes, in turn discovering some of the secrets to their running prowess. It’s the sort of book that makes you want to sign up for a marathon until you remember that a) you’re not Kenyan and b) you get out of breath tying your laces.
Thanks for reading July’s Olympic edition of Off-Field. If you enjoyed the read, why not share it with a friend who might also like it? If the best things in life are indeed free, then it’s worth pointing out here that this newsletter doesn’t cost a penny. If you want to get in touch, give me a shout via alexisnjames@gmail.com.
"The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well." - Olympic creed