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Refugees dream of Rio Olympics

Lausanne - Three athletes who have fled their home countries have been given hope of participating at the Olympic Games in Rio next year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Wednesday.

The trio are a swimmer from Syria now in Germany, a Congolese judo player now in Brazil and an Iranian taekwando fighter who is in Belgium, IOC director Pere Miro told reporters on the fringe of executive committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The IOC called on international federations to highlight the cases of other refugee athletes who could take part at Rio under the Olympic flag if they meet the sporting qualifying criteria.


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