Yusra Mardini

Yusra Mardini

Yusra Mardini
Personal information
Born Syria
Height 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight 53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
Country Syria
Sport Freestyle swimming, Butterfly stroke

Yusra Mardini is a Syrian swimmer currently living in Berlin, Germany. She was a member of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team (ROT), that competed under the Olympic flag at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[1]

Early life

Yusra Mardini swimming

Growing up in Damascus, Mardini trained in swimming with the support of the Syrian Olympic Committee.[2] In 2012, she represented Syria in the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) 200 metre individual medley, 200 metre freestyle and 400 metre freestyle events.[3]

Mardini's house was destroyed in the Syrian civil war.[4] Mardini and her sister Sarah decided to flee Syria in August 2015.[5] They reached Lebanon, and then Turkey, where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece by boat with 18 other migrants,[5] though the boat was meant to be used by no more than six or seven people.[2] After the motor stopped working and the dinghy began to take on water in the Aegean Sea, Mardini, her sister, and two other people who were able to swim[2] got into the water and pushed the boat for over 3 hours until it reached Lesbos.[5] They then traveled through Europe to Germany, where they settled in Berlin in September 2015.[2] Her parents also fled Syria and live in Germany.[6]

Swimming career

On arrival in Germany, Mardini continued her training with her coach Sven Spannenkrebs from Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 in Berlin, in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.[2][5] She attempted to qualify in the 200 metres freestyle swimming event.[4] In June 2016, Mardini was one of ten athletes selected for the ROT.[7] Mardini competed in the 100 metres freestyle and the 100 metres butterfly at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[8] IOC president Thomas Bach said of the refugee athletes, “We help them to make their dream of sporting excellence come true, even when they have to flee war and violence.”[9]

Mardini won a 100m butterfly heat at the Rio Olympics, against only four other swimmers, with a time of 1:09.21 and a rank of 41st among 45 entrants. [10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Fahey, Ciaran (18 March 2016). "Swimmer Yusra Mardini competed at Rio Games for refugee squad in hopes of inspiring other Syrians. On 6 August 2016, Yusra won her heat Summer Olympics in the 100 meter butterfly.". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Philip Oltermann. "From Syria to Rio: refugee Yusra Mardini targets Olympic swimming spot". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "The inspirational Olympic journey of refugee swimmer Yusra Mardini". Olympic.org. Olympic Games. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Olympics hopeful Syrian refugee swims for three hours pushing boat of migrants". Stuff. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "After Surviving Aegean Sea, Syrian Swimmer Hopes For Spot In Olympics". NPR.org. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Refugee swimmer Yusra Mardini gets a chance to go the Olympic Games". SwimSwam. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "IOC selects 10 to form refugee team for Rio".
  8. ↑ Wilder, Charly She Swam to Escape Syria. Now She’ll Swim in Rio. New York Times. August 3, 2016
  9. ↑ "Team of Refugee Olympic Athletes (ROA) created by the IOC". IOC. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Rio 2016".
  11. ↑ Yusra Mardini delights with butterfly heat win for Refugee Olympic Team, The Guardian, retrieved 6 August 2016
  12. ↑ Refugee swimmer Yusra Mardini just won her heat at the Olympics, quartz.com, retrieved 7 August (CET)
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