The 36 athletes hail from 11 different countries and are currently under the care of 15 National Olympic Committees. In Paris, they'll proudly represent the Olympic Refugee Team across 12 sports: swimming, athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoeing (slalom and sprint), road cycling, judo, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman).

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach announced the team at a ceremony today from the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

"We welcome all of you with open arms. You are an enrichment to our Olympic community and to our societies," said Bach, an Olympic gold medallist fencer at the Montreal 1976 Games. "With your participation in the Olympic Games, you will demonstrate the human potential of resilience and excellence. This will send a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world.

The Refugee team will take part in its third Olympics, having made its debut at the Rio 2016 Games and continued at Tokyo 2020. The Paris 2024 contingent is the largest-ever Refugee Olympic Team: the inaugural Rio 2016 team had 10 athletes, with the squad growing to 29 athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

More About Maso

Maso grew up in Aleppo, Syria with his family and began swimming at an early age thanks to his father, who became a swimming coach following his retirement from the army. Maso trained as a swimmer and a triathlete and knew fellow Olympic Refugee Team swimmer Yusra Mardini when they were growing up.

Maso left Syria in 2015 after his training facilities were damaged, and he felt the pressure of the conflict all around him. Following a long European journey, he settled in Germany and began swimming again with Emil Guliyev. Maso has also returned to school and is making up for the years lost due to leaving Syria.

Maso achieved a lifelong ambition by competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the 50m freestyle. After competing at the Games, Maso's inspiring story of overcoming adversity through sport was further recognised when he was given the honour of signing the “Golden Book” of Hannover at the Town Hall, marking the history of the city as the first refugee athlete to compete at such a major sporting event.

Balsini Biography

Born in Tehran, Balsini started swimming and diving at 8. Following a diving accident, he decided to focus on swimming and earned his place in the national team at the age of 15. He came to the United Kingdom to prepare for the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.

Balsini left Iran in 2022 and sought asylum. Due to the challenging asylum period, he paused his swimming pursuits for seven months. Matin eventually settled in Guildford, Surrey, where he felt at peace. Here, he began training again under the guidance of Coach Lee while working as a lifeguard on the weekends. Despite facing setbacks, he is currently focused on surpassing his personal best in the 200m butterfly - with no place better to do this than at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.