Largest-Ever Refugee Paralympic Team to Compete at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Leading the Refugee Paralympic Team is Chef de Mission Nyasha Mharakurwa, who represented Zimbabwe in wheelchair tennis at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

With 50 days to go until the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the eight athletes and one guide runner who will compete as part of the largest-ever Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT). Representing over 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, these athletes are based in six countries and will compete across six sports: Para athletics, Para powerlifting, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo, Para triathlon, and wheelchair fencing.

Andrew Parsons, IPC President, remarked, “All Paralympians have stories of incredible resilience, but the journeys of these athletes as refugees surviving war and persecution to compete at the Paralympic Games is off-the-charts awe-inspiring. These athletes have persevered and shown incredible determination to get to Paris 2024, giving every refugee around the world hope.”

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, added, “For a third consecutive Paralympics, a team of determined, inspirational refugee athletes will show the world what they can achieve if given the chance. Refugees thrive when given the opportunity to use, develop, and showcase their skills and talents, in sport and in many other walks of life.”

The eight Refugee Paralympic Team athletes are:

Zakia Khudadadi (Para taekwondo):

Khudadadi made headlines competing at Tokyo 2020 just days after a harrowing escape from her home country. Now living in Paris, France, she won the 2023 European Taekwondo Championship in the 47kg category, dedicating her victory to women in her homeland.

Guillaume Junior Atangana (Para athletics):

The vision-impaired sprinter will line up alongside his guide and fellow refugee Donard Ndim Nyamjua. Atangana finished fourth in the 400m T11 at Tokyo 2020. At the Nottwil 2024 Grand Prix Para Athletics event in June, he finished first in the 400m and second in the 100m final. He will compete in the 100m and 400m T11 events in Paris.

Ibrahim Al Hussein (Para triathlon):

Paris 2024 will be Al Hussein’s third successive Paralympic Games representing the Refugee Paralympic Team. After competing in Para swimming previously, he will now compete in Para triathlon. At the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony, Ibrahim, who lost his leg in an explosion, was the Refugee Paralympic Team flagbearer.

Salman Abbariki (Para athletics):

Paris 2024 will be Abbariki’s second Paralympic Games, having competed in shot put at London 2012. He won gold and broke the Asian record at the 2010 Asian Para Games.

Hadi Darvish (Para powerlifting):

Darvish’s Paralympic dream started after watching the London 2012 Paralympic Games on television. After spending two years in a refugee camp in Germany, he fulfilled his Paralympic ambitions by winning a bronze medal in the men’s up to 80kg event at the Tbilisi 2024 World Cup in June.

Sayed Amir Hossein Pour (Para table tennis):

Pour has lived in various refugee camps since arriving in Germany. He won two gold medals at the Asian Youth Para Games 2021 in Bahrain.

Amelio Castro Grueso (Wheelchair fencing):

Grueso faced tragedy when he lost the use of his legs in a traffic accident. Vowing to share his story through sport, he has achieved significant success, winning bronze in the Men’s Epee Category B at the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing America’s Championship. He now lives in Italy.

Hadi Hassanzada (Para taekwondo):

Hassanzada faced numerous dangers before finding safety in Austria. Despite losing his right hand, he turned setbacks into opportunities through sport.

Leading the Refugee Paralympic Team is Chef de Mission Nyasha Mharakurwa, who represented Zimbabwe in wheelchair tennis at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He has worked directly with team members and International Federations on staff at the IPC for the past five years. “The Refugee Paralympic Team offers a model for all of us. These athletes have found a way to compete at the highest level of Paralympic sport, representing both forcibly displaced people and the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities,” Mharakurwa said.

The Refugee Paralympic Team will compete under the IPC flag and will be the first team to march into the Opening Ceremony on 28 August along the Champs-Elysees and in Place de la Concorde. The Paris 2024 Refugee Paralympic Team is supported by Worldwide Paralympic Partner Airbnb, Asics, UNHCR, the French Ministry for Sport and Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, and CREPS of Reims. The IPC thanks them for their assistance with the team.

The Refugee Paralympic Team had two athletes at Rio 2016 and six at Tokyo 2020.