Among the world's millions of refugees are athletes with the talent to compete in the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee recently announced it will field a team of refugee athletes this summer for the Rio Olympics.
One Olympic hopeful on the committee's shortlist is a young Syrian swimmer who now trains in Germany.
Ira Spitzer reports from Berlin.
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VO#1 - Like many elite swimmers, Yusra Mardini has long dreamed of competing in the Olympics. But war forced her to leave her native Syria and she and her family arrived in the German capital of Berlin last year to start a new life. After finding a local swim club to train with, the 18 year old is now one of 43 athletes who may qualify for a recently-announced Olympic team … made up of refugees.
SOT, Yusra Mardina, Refugee swimmer
"I think this trip made me stronger, and made me, like, down the best I can to reach the Olympics and reach my dream."
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VO#2 - She still has work to do in order to compete at the highest level. To qualify in the 200 meter freestyle event, she needs to shave about 7 seconds off her time. Her German coach Sven Spannekrebs though is confident that she can overcome the 2-year training break caused by the events in her home country.
SOT, Sven Spannekrebs, Swim coach
"In the last five months, her progress was really, really good, better than I expected. She did some good personal best times on the middle and long course strokes"
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VO#3 - Yusra's journey included taking a boat to Greece from Turkey, where she and her sister helped 18 other refugees arrive safely after their boat capsized. She then followed the Balkan land route to Germany used by hundreds of thousands of other refugees in the past year. The refugee team isn't just a good chance for her, it's also a chance for the Olympics to shift some of the focus away from doping scandals that have clouded sports in recent years. Pere Miro is the Deputy Director General for Relations for the International OIympic Commitee.
SOT, Pere Miro, International Olympic Commitee
"This is an opportunity to remind that we are based in values//and this is a very good opportunity to put into practice the values, to put that in practice and if we can show that to the world if we can demonstrate that still we are there, that this is very positive for everybody."
VO#4 - About 5 to 10 refugees are expected to qualify for the Brazil Olympics. They will stay in the Olympic village and march as their own team. Ira Spitzer, Berlin.
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