The 36 athletes were announced on Thursday by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, during a live-streamed ceremony from Lausanne, Switzerland.
Afghanistan’s first female breakdancer, Manizha Talash, practises during a training session.
Meet the athletes
In Paris, the team will be competing in sports that include breaking – a first at the Olympics – and Manizha Talash from Afghanistan will get to showcase her moves. She is the country’s first female breakdancer, according to media reports.
Cindy Ngamba was born in Cameroon and moved to the United Kingdom at 11. She was always interested in sports and initially joined a football team but later discovered her true passion: boxing.
Ms. Ngamba trains with the elite amateur GB Boxing Team and is a three-time English national champion. She also made history by becoming the first-ever refugee boxer to qualify for the Olympics.
Adnan Khankan has loved judo since he was a boy in Syria, where he joined the national junior team and participated in continental championships. War forced him to flee, and he settled in Germany. He recalled watching the Refugee Olympic Team in 2016 as a moment that truly gave him hope.
Talented shooter Francisco Edilio Centevo Nieves was ranked number one in Venezuela and used to run a training academy where he trained people in the sport. He left his homeland together with his sister and now lives in Mexico.
As the Refugee Olympic Team prepares for Paris, people everywhere can follow their progress on social media channels.