2024 Paralympic Games: Athletes want to send a message of hope

Athletes on the Refugee Paralympic Team are looking to send a message of hope as they strive for the podium at the 2024 Paralympic Games that begin in Paris next week.

Eight Paralympians and one runner guide who fled conflict and persecution in their homelands are hoping to earn medals in six sports: para-athletics, para-powerlifting, para-table tennis, para-taekwondo, para-triathlon, and wheelchair fencing.

Among them is Ibrahim Al Hussein, a Syrian athlete who will be competing in para-triathlon.

Al Hussein lost his right foot and parts of his left foot in 2012 during the civil war that ravaged his country and forced him to flee to Greece.

"This is a message of hope to the whole world and a message of hope to everyone around the world, to anyone who is miserable, to anyone who does not have the spirit of perseverance," l Hussein told the Associated Press from the team’s training camp in Reims.

Like many on his team, he wants to prove that anything is possible, despite the challenges that come with being both disabled and being uprooted from your home.

Living in crowded refugee camps for years with little or no access to training centers, Al Hussein and others overcame many obstacles to reach top sporting competitions.

Guillaume Junior Atangana thought that his dreams of becoming a professional athlete playing soccer had been dashed when he lost his eyesight.

But instead of ending his sporting career, he discovered that running with the help of a guide could take him even further.

“I’ve been able to put in some great performances that some able-bodied people can’t manage,” he said.

After finishing fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Atangana hopes this to snatch a medal this time.

The Refugee Paralympic Team will be the first delegation to march at the Opening Ceremony taking place along the Champs-Elysees on Aug. 28.