In 2016 at Rio de Janeiro the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed a Refugee Olympic Team to compete. This concept was announced at the United Nations General Assembly in October 2015 by IOC President Thomas Bach. Eventually 10 athletes competed, with the athletes originally from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
At Tokyo 2020, the IOC accepted 29 refugees, representing 12 sports. The name was changed for Tokyo to Équipe Olympique des Réfugies (EOR), after the IOC realized the original acronym, ROT, had a rather poor connotation in English. In Tokyo, the team marched in the second position at the Opening Ceremony (after the Greek team) and was represented by the Olympic Flag and Olympic Anthem.
This second participation of the Refugee Olympic Team brought its best results to date, with two athletes achieving the fifth place in their respective events: karateka Hamoon Derafshipour in the men’s kumite under 67 kg class, and taekwondoka Kimia Alizadeh in the women’s taekwondo featherweight class.
