Town of Bayeux To Host the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Ahead of Paris 2024
International Olympic Committee news
The IOC Refugee Olympic Team will be hosted in the historic town of Bayeux in Normandy, France, for its pre-Games Training Camp ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The training camp will take place from 15 to 18 July before the team heads to the Olympic Village to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
For the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, which consists of athletes living and training across the world, the camp will act as a team-building opportunity and help establish a sense of unity amongst team-mates.
To mark the announcement, the town of Bayeux hosted a ceremony in the presence of Masomah Ali Zada, member of the Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 and member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, as well as representatives from the Olympic Refuge Foundation. Participants were also invited to a screening of the documentary We Dare to Dream, which is directed by Oscar-nominated, refugee filmmaker Waad al-Kateab. We Dare to Dream follows the journey of five refugee athletes as they prepare for and compete in Tokyo 2020.
The event was hosted in the context of the Prix Bayeux, a renowned international award ceremony that recognises the courage and dedication of war correspondents. Due to the history of Normandy and as represented by events such as the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy War Correspondents Prize, the region is deeply attuned to the plight of refugees worldwide.
To date, 63 Refugee Athletes Scholarship-holders are being supported and training hard to be selected for the Olympic Games in Paris. Together, they represent 13 sports, 12 nations and live in 23 host countries.
