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The team, which will compete under the Olympic
flag and include people from countries including Syria, South
Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iran, is almost three times as
big as the inaugural team at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics.
Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, who swam to safety when her boat
capsized between Turkey and Greece in 2015, will be back for her
second Games after taking Rio by storm.
Also on the team are Kimia Alizadeh, Iran's first female Olympic
medalist when she won bronze in taekwondo at the 2016 Olympics
and fellow Iranian canoe racer Saeid Fazloula.
Alizadeh left in 2020 saying she was oppressed as a woman, while
Fazloula reached Germany in 2015 via the Balkans.
"I speak on behalf of the entire Olympic Movement when I say
that we cannot wait to meet you in person and to see you compete
in Tokyo," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a virtual
presentation of the team.
"It will send a powerful message of solidarity, resilience and
hope to the world ... You are an integral part of our Olympic
community, and we welcome you with open arms."
The athletes, who will march into the stadium during the opening
ceremony in second place behind ancient Games founders Greece,
were selected from a pool of 56, supported by Olympic
scholarships from 13 different countries.
The IOC unveiled its first refugee team at the Rio Games to
raise awareness of the issue as hundreds of thousands of people
were pouring into Europe from the Middle East and elsewhere
escaping conflict and poverty.
That 10-member team from Syria, Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan
competed in athletics, swimming and judo.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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