They compete under the same flag but speak different languages and come from different parts of the world. After fleeing war and persecution at home, 36 athletes from 11 countries will compete in the Paris Games as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.
The team was created for the Rio Olympics in 2016 as a symbol of hope and to call attention to the plight of refugees worldwide.
In Paris, the refugee athletes will take the stage at a time of record global migration, with hundreds of millions of people — many of them displaced from their homes — working to reinvent themselves just as these athletes have.
The record migration comes alongside a rise in far-right populism across much of the world, with officials and parties in many countries promising to clamp down on immigration and asylum.
At the Games, athletes will compete in a host country where the anti-immigration far-right party saw a surge of voter support in parliamentary elections, but was beaten back by a coalition of the French left and failed to win a majority.
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The refugee athletes will compete in 12 sports, but for many, their journey to Paris is already a victory in itself.
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