The Congolese judokas began training with Geraldo Bernardes, a four-time Olympic coach for the Brazilian national team and co-founder of Instituto Reacao. Misenga, Mabika and eight other refugee athletes will make their debut in Maracana stadium on August 5, when they parade with the Olympic flag during the official opening of the Rio 2016 Games. Now, the two Congolese athletes have been given a chance to fight on the global stage after being selected for the first refugee team to compete in the Olympics"This shows that the Olympic committee sees us, refugees, as human beings," Misenga told CNN. "My fight in the Olympics will be for all refugees, to give them faith in their dreams." "It's tough to find refugees living in this vulnerable situation who have the physical condition to compete at an Olympic level," Canto said.

Source: CNN June 03, 2016 13:41 UTC