Olympic Refuge Foundation includes 17 new refugee athletes on the path to the LA28 Games
The Olympic Refuge Foundation, an organization founded by the International Olympic Committee, announced on June 15, 2026, that it had included 17 new refugee athletes in its support program with the ambition of joining the qualification path toward the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. According to the announcement by the IOC and the Olympic Refuge Foundation, these are athletes who will be accompanied through preparations, expert support and cooperation with national Olympic committees by the Refugee Athlete Support program. The announcement was presented ahead of World Refugee Day, which, according to the United Nations, is observed every year on June 20. Entry into the program does not automatically mean participation in the Games, but it opens a more structured path for athletes toward possible selection for the Refugee Olympic Team.
The new round of support is important because it seeks to provide refugee athletes with what is often decisive in elite sport: continuity of training, access to experts, a link with international competitions and administrative support in a system that is often particularly complex for displaced people. According to the Olympic Refuge Foundation, the athletes included in the program come under the umbrella of eight national Olympic committees and compete in nine sports. Their hosts are the Olympic committees in the countries where they now live and train, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Mexico, the United States of America, Sweden and Brazil. This continues the model in which refugee athletes do not compete through the national system of their country of origin, but through a special Olympic structure that connects them with hosts and international federations.
What entry into the program brings
According to IOC data, Refugee Athlete Support now covers a total of 62 athletes in 14 sports, with the support of 16 national Olympic committees. The program relies on Olympic Solidarity scholarships and cooperation with international sports federations, and all athletes included in this cycle are expected to receive support until the LA28 Olympic Games. The Olympic Refuge Foundation states that participation in the program makes athletes eligible for possible selection for the Refugee Olympic Team, but the final composition is determined only after sporting criteria, readiness assessments and decisions by Olympic bodies. In other words, this is an important qualification and development stage, but not a guarantee of competing in Los Angeles.
To be included in the program, according to the IOC announcement, athletes must be elite competitors in their disciplines and have refugee status in the host country, recognized in cooperation with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. This provision is important because it distinguishes this program from general humanitarian or recreational projects: the goal is not only to enable access to sport, but to help athletes who already possess international competitive potential to continue their careers after forced displacement. Many of them had to interrupt training, change coaches, lose access to competitions or face administrative obstacles that directly affect their sporting careers. The program therefore combines the sporting, organizational and social aspects of support.
The IOC also states that 18 international sports federations now enable refugee athletes to participate in their international competitions, while some of them also include refugee teams at world championships. This is an important shift because Olympic participation is not possible without a competitive pathway, results and international rankings in sports where such criteria exist. In practice, this means that support is not limited to preparations for a single event, but includes access to a broader competition calendar. Such an approach gives athletes a more realistic opportunity to compare themselves with the competition, meet standards and remain visible in their disciplines.
Names of the new athletes and host countries
According to the list published by the IOC, the new round of the program includes athletes in athletics, taekwondo, wrestling, weightlifting, shooting, canoeing, judo, swimming and cycling. The list shows how dispersed the refugee sporting path is: some athletes train in large European Olympic systems, some are connected with African and American hosts, and individuals compete in sports in which qualification depends on very specific international rules. The inclusion of athletes from different disciplines also expands the possibilities of the refugee team, which since its establishment has grown beyond its initial symbolic framework and become a permanent part of the Olympic system. Among the newly included athletes are:
- Abolfazl Abbasipouya, taekwondo, host Germany
- Ali Idow Hassan, athletics, host France
- Arman Karapetyan, wrestling, host France
- Ayda Khorshidi, taekwondo, host United Kingdom
- Aysa Khorshidi, taekwondo, host United Kingdom
- Clementine Meukeugni Noumbissi, weightlifting, host United Kingdom
- Dario Lokoro, athletics, host Kenya
- Edilio Francisco Centeno Nieves, shooting, host Mexico
- Farhad Nourikhorjestan, wrestling, host United Kingdom
- Fatemeh Keshavarz, weightlifting, host United Kingdom
- Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez, canoeing, host United States of America
- Habiba Bayati, judo, host Sweden
- Hannaneh Afshar, swimming, host Brazil
- Marialejandra Coromoto Centeno Nieves, shooting, host Mexico
- Mehdi Abedini, taekwondo, host France
- Mohammad Ganjkhanlo, cycling, host United Kingdom
- Tesfu Weldegebreal, athletics, host United States of America
Such a list also has broader sporting value because it shows that the refugee Olympic program is no longer focused only on a few disciplines in which it was previously easiest to ensure access to training. The inclusion of canoeing, shooting, weightlifting, swimming and cycling alongside athletics, combat sports and judo points to the gradual expansion of the support network. At the same time, the program remains dependent on domestic Olympic committees, clubs, coaches and federations that must create the conditions for everyday work. For athletes who have gone through displacement, precisely that stability is often just as important as financial support.
Los Angeles as the next major target
The Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028, according to the official Olympic calendar, will be held from July 14 to 30, 2028. For refugee athletes, that timeframe means they have two years ahead of them for competitive progress, meeting international criteria and proving their form. In sports such as athletics, swimming or cycling, the path to the Games often depends on standards, ranking lists and appearances at international competitions, while combat sports and shooting may have their own qualification systems and continental tournaments. That is why early inclusion in the program is important, because it enables planning of the entire cycle, not only the final preparations.
LA28 will be the first Summer Olympic cycle after Paris 2024 in which the refugee team enters with the experience of a historic medal. UNHCR and the Olympic Refuge Foundation previously highlighted that boxer Cindy Ngamba won the first Olympic medal for the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris 2024, giving the team a new sporting symbol alongside the already existing humanitarian message. That result did not change the fundamental purpose of the team, but it showed that refugee athletes can be competitive at the highest level, and not merely present as representatives of a global crisis. For the new group of athletes, this means that public expectations will be higher, but also that the path opening before them is more visible than in the first years of the program.
The Refugee Olympic Team first competed at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and then also participated at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games. According to data from the Olympic Refuge Foundation and UNHCR, the Paris squad was the largest to date, with 37 athletes in 12 sports. This development shows that the initiative has grown from a one-off Olympic response to the refugee crisis into a more permanent part of the sporting system. It also shows that the issue of refugee athletes is no longer viewed only through the opening ceremony, but through years of training, qualification and international cooperation.
Sport in the context of global displacement
The latest UNHCR data provide a broader framework for this announcement. According to data from the UN Refugee Agency, at the end of 2025 there were 117.8 million forcibly displaced people in the world due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. In its Global Trends report, UNHCR states that global forced displacement recorded a decline for the first time in a decade, but also warns that the number remains exceptionally high. The agency estimated that by the end of April 2026, the level of global displacement remained approximately at the level from the end of 2025, namely around 117 to 118 million people. In that context, the Olympic program for refugee athletes represents a small, but very publicly visible part of the broader response to the long-term consequences of displacement.
In its mission, the Olympic Refuge Foundation emphasizes access to safe sport for young people affected by displacement, and not only support for elite athletes. According to the organization’s data, sport can help create a sense of safety, belonging and stability for young people who have lost their home, community or regular everyday life. The program for elite athletes is therefore the most visible part of the broader work, but it is not the only one. ORF works with local partners, coaches and humanitarian organizations to adapt sporting spaces to the realities of crises, migration and integration in new communities.
This approach distinguishes the refugee Olympic system from the classic model of national teams. The usual Olympic path is based on citizenship, a national federation and the competition system in the country that the athlete represents. For refugees, especially those who cannot or do not want to compete for their country of origin, that model is often not available. The Refugee Olympic Team therefore competes under the Olympic flag, and its athletes symbolically represent millions of people who were forced to leave their homes. In sporting terms, however, they must go through the same demanding process of training, selection and competition as other elite athletes.
Dakar 2026 as the next important step
Before Los Angeles 2028, the refugee Olympic program will have another important milestone. The Olympic Refuge Foundation states that it is also preparing for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, at which the Refugee Youth Olympic Team is expected to compete. According to official Olympic information, Dakar 2026 will be the first Olympic event held on the African continent, and the inclusion of a young refugee team represents a new step in expanding the program to younger age groups. In this way, the refugee sporting pathway is being built not only toward already formed elite athletes, but also toward a generation that is only just entering the international competition system.
For young athletes, displacement often means the loss of access to clubs, school competitions, equipment and coaches precisely during the period when sporting potential develops fastest. That is why the youth component of the program is particularly important: it can prevent talent from disappearing because of circumstances that have nothing to do with sporting quality. At the same time, Dakar 2026 provides an opportunity to connect the issue of refugees with the African context, a continent that is both the host of the competition and one of the key areas of global displacement. For the IOC and ORF, this is a way for sporting solidarity to be visible not only on the biggest Olympic stage, but also in the developmental part of the Olympic movement.
A path that still has to be earned
Although the Olympic Refuge Foundation’s announcement is important news for 17 athletes, their real path to Los Angeles is only beginning. Over the next two years, they will have to maintain training continuity, compete in relevant competitions and satisfy criteria that differ from sport to sport. The program gives them a framework, financial and expert support and institutional visibility, but sporting results remain decisive. That is precisely why ORF’s emphasis on reconnecting athletes with their sporting communities is important: without regular competitions and coaching structures, even the most talented athletes cannot achieve the Olympic standard.
For a global audience, the potential appearance of the refugee team at LA28 will carry a dual message. On the one hand, it is a sporting team that wants to compete on equal terms, with clear results and ambitions. On the other hand, every appearance under the Olympic flag is a reminder of millions of people whose lives have been interrupted by wars, persecution and crises. The new program cannot solve the causes of displacement, but it can return a measure of professional continuity to individual athletes and show the public that the refugee experience is not an obstacle to ambition, discipline and elite sport.
Sources:
- International Olympic Committee / Olympic Refuge Foundation – announcement on 17 new athletes included in Refugee Athlete Support, the list of athletes, hosts, sports and program conditions (link)
- Olympic Refuge Foundation – description of the organization’s mission and work on safe sport for young people affected by displacement (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official page of the LA28 Olympic Games with dates and current information about the Games in Los Angeles (link)
- UNHCR – Global Trends 2025 report with data on global forced displacement at the end of 2025 and methodological notes for the beginning of 2026 (link)
- UNHCR – press release on the participation of the refugee Olympic team in Paris 2024 and the first medal for that team (link)
- United Nations – official information on World Refugee Day and its observance on June 20 (link)