Olympic flag raised for Refugee Olympic team at athletes village

The first ever Refugee Olympic Team (ROT) held its flag-raising ceremony at the Olympic Village on Wednesday evening, sending a message of sports spirit to all the refugees around the world.

The Rio Olympics organizers arranged a welcome performance ahead of the flag-raising ceremony, which featured an excellent mixture of aboriginal dance and music.

Tegla Loroupe, lead of the ROT, signs name on theOlympictrucewalls. Photo By: Xinhua

Five other delegations had the flag-raising ceremony together with the ROT, the flags of Cote d'voire, El Salvador, Mali, Nepal and Paraguay were raised respectively.

When the Olympic flag for the ROT was waving in the air, not only the refugee athletes but also all the attenders were celebrating with cheers and applause.

Olympic flag raised for Refugee Olympic team. Photo By: Xinhua

Ten refugees will participate in the Rio Olympics under the Olympic flag as the International Olympic Committee formed the unique team for athletes that have fled conflict-driven countries and regions.

Rami Anis, swimmer from Syria takesselfie after the ceremony. Photo By: Xinhua

The team includes five runners from South Sudan, two swimmers from Syria, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a marathon runner from Ethiopia, besides five coaches and five other officials.

（APD）