As boat after boat traversed the Seine river on Friday night during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, athletes adorned in their country’s colors and waving their nation’s flags were watched by millions tuning in from various parts of the world to take in the once-every-four-years spectacle.
For all of its stated, high-minded ideals, the Olympics are fundamentally a competition between countries, with athletic glory and bragging rights on the line every time an athlete or team takes the field, court, mat, track or any of the other myriad playing surfaces making an appearance in Paris these next several weeks.
While many of those countries are easily identifiable on a map, others have qualified for the Olympics through less traditional means and, in some cases, significant hardship. Athletes often speak of representing their birth country at the Olympics as a privilege, a fact that’s true in more basic and fundamental ways than just being athletically gifted enough to make it to that stage.
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There’s perhaps no greater example of that difficult journey to Paris than the Refugee Olympic Team, which is taking part in the 2024 Games under the acronym EOR.
Here’s what you need to know about the Refugee Olympic Team in the 2024 Paris Olympics:
What is EOR at the Olympics?
EOR is the designation given to the Refugee Olympic Team, an acronym reflecting the French translation for the term, “Equipe Olympique des Réfugiés.”
This is the third Summer Olympics in which there has been a team for refugees after International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach announced its creation before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in October 2015.
The move from the IOC came in response to the displacement of millions of people globally who were unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to fear of persecution, conflict, violence or other circumstances that have disrupted public order and require international protection.
“The IOC Refugee Olympic Team sends a great signal about what an enrichment refugees are for our Olympic community and for society at large,” Bach said. “Watching them compete is a great moment for all of us, and we hope everyone will join. The athletes are welcome in our Olympic community, among their fellow athletes — competing with them, but also living with them together under one roof.”
The first refugee team competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, with 10 athletes originally from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo making up the delegation.
In the years since, it has grown. In March 2021, the IOC decided that there would not only be a refugee team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but also the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal.
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Refugee Team Olympics 2024
After the inaugural refugee team featured 10 athletes, its representation grew to 29 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included athletes competing in 12 sports.
The IOC Refugee Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics has more than 30 athletes hosted by 15 national Olympic committees competing in 12 sports and representing more than 100 million forcibly displaced people globally, according to the Olympic Refuge Foundation (only 36 athletes are listed)
Here are the athletes competing for EOR at the 2024 Paris Olympics, along with their birth country and the sport in which they’ll be competing:
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Adnan Khankan: Syria, judo
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Alaa Maso: Syria, swimming
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Amir Ansari: Iran (refugee from Afghanistan), cycling
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Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani: Iran, canoe slalom
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Arab Sibghatullah: Afghanistan, judo
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Cindy Ngamba: Cameroon, boxing
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Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi: Iran, taekwondo
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Dorian Keletela: Congo, athletics
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Dorsa Yavarivafa: Iran, badminton
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Eyeru Gebru: Ethiopia, cycling
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Farida Abaroge: Ethiopia, athletics
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Farzad Mansouri: Afghanistan, taekwondo
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Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez: Cuba, canoe sprint
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Francisco Edilio Centeno Nieves: Venezuela, shooting
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Hadi Tiranvalipour: Iran, taekwondo
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Iman Mahdavi: Iran, wrestling
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Jamal Abdelmaji: Darfur, Sudan, athletics
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Jamal Valizadeh: Iran, Greco-Roman wrestling
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Kasra Mehdipournejad: Iran, taekwondo
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Luna Solomon: Eritrea, shooting
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Mahboubeh Barbari Yharfi: Iran, judo
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Manizha Talash: Afghanistan, breaking
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Matin Balsini: Iran, swimming
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Mohammad Amin Alsalami: Syria, athletics
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Mohammad Rashnonezhad: Iran, judo
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Muna Dahouk: Syria, judo
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Musa Suliman: Sudan, athletics
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Nigara Shaheen: Afghanistan, judo
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Omid Ahmadisafa: Iran, boxing
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Perina Lokure Nakang: South Sudan, athletics
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Ramiro Mora: Cuba, weightlifting
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Saeid Fazloula: Iran, canoe sprint
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Saman Soltani: Iran, canoe sprint
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Tachlowini Gabriyesos: Eritrea, athletics
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Yahya Al Ghotany: Syria, taekwondo
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Yekta Jamali Galeh: Iran, weightlifting
What is AIN at the Olympics?
The Refugee Olympic Team isn’t the only group of athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Games under an unfamiliar name.
“AIN” is the designation given to athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports who have qualified for the Olympics and been declared eligible to compete. AIN is an acronym for “Individual Neutral Athlete,” with the letters rearranged to reflect how it is spelled in French.
Originally, the IOC had banned Russia from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, an act of aggression the IOC described as “a blatant violation of the Olympic Truce that was in effect at the time.” Belarus, a neighboring country and close ally of Russia, was banned because it allowed Russia to use its territory to carry out attacks on Ukraine.
After initially expressing support for the idea that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be able to compete at the 2024 Games as neutrals so long as they did not “actively” support the war in Ukraine, the IOC unveiled the AIN name in March 2023. The AIN delegation is banned from using the neutral Olympic flag and Olympic anthem. Instead, it will have a teal flag with a circular AIN seal in the middle.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: EOR at the Olympics: What to know of Refugee Olympic Team at Paris Games
