RIO DE JANEIRO – It has been a tough road for the 10,000-plus athletes from more than 200 nations set to descend upon Brazil this summer and unimaginably tougher for the small collection of displaced refugees who will compete under the Olympic flag.
Of all the stories that an Olympics inevitably brings, surely none are more remarkable or inspiring than those of 10 athletes selected to represent themselves, and the spirit of the Games movement, rather than a particular nation.
Until recently, refugee status made competing at an Olympics a virtual impossibility, with every athlete needing to be put forward by an International Olympic Committee member nation.