(ATR) A Paralympic swimmer from the 2012 Games in London will lead the refugee team to be selected for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Ileana Rodriguez, a refugee from Cuba who is now a US citizen, has been named as Chef de Mission for the six-member team for Tokyo.
"As a former refugee who was lucky enough to compete in the Paralympics, I appreciate the value of having a Refugee Paralympic Team - it represents sports beyond nationalities and our athletes who will compete in Tokyo will be a symbol of hope for other refugees around the world,," she says in a statement.
Rodriguez is an architect in Texas where her practice specializes in accessible buildings.
The International Paralympic Committee says up to six athletes will compete as the refugee team in Tokyo next August.
"To be considered for the team, athletes must have confirmed refugee status in accordance with international, national and regional law. Athletes will be subject for selection by the IPC and/or their international federation. This is primarily based on performance and them meeting the eligibility criteria. No athletes have currently been selected for the RPT for Tokyo 2020," says the release from the IPC announcing the team.
As with the IOC and its refugee team, the IPC is working with the UN High Commission on Refugees. Commercial partners Airbnb, Asics and Panasonic are also supporting the team which will wear kit from Asics.
The first IPC refugee team consisted of two athletes, one a swimmer the other a discus thrower, who competed in Rio 2016.
Chefs Webinar
Following the Chef de Mission briefing earlier this month for the Tokyo Olympics, this week it’s the chefs from the Paralympic teams who are being served. The meeting is virtual as a result of the coronavirus countermeasures.
Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori and IPC President Andrew Parsons both spoke at the open of the meeting Oct. 28.
"We are leaving no stone unturned with our partners to protect the safety and health and well-being of all who will be attending these Games," Parsons said.
No head count yet of the attendance for the meeting. The Tokyo Paralympics are expecting around 440 athletes from 159 nations. The Paralympics begin Aug. 24 and end Sept. 5.
Written by Ed Hula.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
