The Olympic Movement will express solidarity with the plight of the world’s refugees during the Rio 2016 Olympic torch relay, when a refugee will be invited to carry the torch.

The flame will be lit at a ceremony in the Greek city of Olympia, the home of the ancient Olympic Games, on 21 April. From there, it will be carried on a relay in Greece until 27 April, when it will be handed over to Brazil at a ceremony at the Panathinaiko Stadium, stage of the Athens 1896 Olympic Games, the first of the modern era.

During this Greek phase of the relay, the torch will pass through the Eleonas camp for refugees and migrants in Athens, which houses mostly Afghans and Iranians. “The Olympic flame will pass through this camp here and will be shown to the refugees. One of the refugees will be invited to carry the torch,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach told Reuters during a visit to the camp on Thursday (28 January).

Bach showed off his football skills at the Eleonas camp (Photo: IOC/Ian Jones)

After leaving Greece, the torch will be on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, until 2 May when it sets off for Brazil. The Rio 2016 Olympic torch relay will begin its tour of Brazil on 3 May in the capital city, Brasília.

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Bach announced last October at the United Nations in New York that that top-level refugee athletes will be invited to compete at the Rio 2016 Games, saying: “Having no national team to belong to, no flag to march behind, no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic Flag and with the Olympic Anthem,”

Iranian-born taekwondo athlete Raheleh Asemani, who currently lives in Belgium where she trains and works as a postwoman, won a place at Rio 2016 earlier this month. A female Syrian swimmer now in Germany and a male Congolese judoka in Brazil have also been identified by the IOC as potential refugee competitors in Rio.

“We want to draw the attention of the world to the problems of the refugees”

Thomas Bach

How many refugees might take part in the Rio 2016 Games was difficult to estimate, Bach said on Thursday, “but it would not be a big number ... between five to 10.”

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In September, the IOC announced that an emergency fund of US$2 million would be made available to National Olympic Committees to fund programmes aimed at helping refugees. Bach saw how some of this money had been used by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) to provide sporting facilities in the  Eleonas camp.

Bach – who visited the camp with IOC Honorary President, Jacques Rogge, who is also the United Nations Special Envoy for Youth Refugees and Sport – also met two refugees who are top-level athletes, one in karate, the other in shooting. The HOC immediately offered assistance to them in regard to training and integration into the Greek sports community.