The Refugee Paralympic Team, previously the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. The team consisted of six refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes who represent the estimated 82 million refugees in the world. The formation of the team and its six athletes was announced on 30 June 2021 in a joint statement by the IPC and UNHCR. The team had made its debut at the previous edition of the Paralympics that consisted of just two athletes. That team was considered coordinated and was referred to as "the first". The team was the first to enter the Japan National Stadium during the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
Representation The team do not represent any particular country; they represent the estimated 82 million people around the world who are refugees. The UNHCR estimates that 12 million of the 82 million refugees have disabilities. The team was welcomed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
Participation The team was announced on 30 June 2021 by the International Paralympic Committee. American swimmer Ileana Rodriguez - herself a refugee - was chosen to lead the Refugee Paralympic Team as the chef de mission. Rodriguez was supposed to have the honour of carrying the flag in the opening ceremony's parade of nations but it was actually carried by Karimi and Issa. Rodriguez noted that it was appropriate that refugees should be represented at the Paralympics as they had been founded by Ludwig Guttmann who was himself a refugee.
Athlete Country of origin Host NPC Sport Event Shahrad Nasajpour Para athletics Men's Discus F37 Alia Issa Para athletics Women's Club throw F32 Anas Al Khalifa Para canoe Men's Va'a Single 200m - KL2Men's Va'a Single 200m - VL2 Abbas Karimi Para swimming Men's 50m backstroke S5Men's 50m backstroke S5 Ibrahim Al Hussein Para swimming Men's 50m freestyle S9Men's 100m breaststroke SB8 Parfait Hakizimana Para taekwondo Men's K44 -61 kg
All athletes are new to the Paralympics except Ibrahim Al Hussein and Shahrad Nasajpour who competed in 2016.
Number of competitors by event The following lists the number of competitors by event and gender. SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 1 1 2Paracanoeing 1 0 1Swimming 2 0 2Taekwondo 1 0 1 Total 5 1 6
Athletics
AthleteEventResultRankAlia IssaWomen's club throw F3216.338Shahrad NasajpourMen's Discus throw F3742.258
Paracanoeing
AthleteEventHeatsSemi-finalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankAnas Al KhalifaMen's Kayak KL157.0106 SF53.6545 FB 54.2659Men's Va'a VL21:04.6586 SF1:01.4679 did not advance
Swimming
AthleteEventHeatsFinalTimeRankTimeRankIbrahim Al HusseinMen's 50 m freestyle S930.2723Did not advanceMen's 100 m breaststroke SB8Did not advanceAbbas KarimiMen's 50 m butterfly S5 36.365 Q38.168Men's 50 m backstroke S546.4815Did not advance
Taekwondo
AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsRepechage 1SemifinalsRepechage 2Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankParfait HakizimanaMen's –61 kgL 4–27Did not advanceL Did not advance
Sponsorship The team is supported by the IPC organizationally, but financially they are sponsored by AirBNB. AirBNB cover the costs of the team and this allows the athletes to concentrate on their training. AirBNB have a new department to support the team and they run an on-line forum where the athletes talk about their lives. ASICS are supplying the team's outfits as this adds to their sense of identity. This is particularly important as each of them cannot use the flags of the nation where they were born. UNHCR also assist and one of the team's athletes, Abbas Karimi, has been made a UNHCR "High-Profile Supporter".
References