Yusra Mardini “Now We Are Free, Maybe I’ll Swim Under Syrian Flag”
Mardini's family home was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, which has caused over 500,000 deaths and destruction of at least half of the country's homes Current photo via Simone Castrovillari
Yusra Mardini has accomplished many things in her swimming career. The 26-year-old is a two-time Olympian. Time magazine named her and her sister Sarah among the 100 most influential people in the world. She is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
The headliner of the IOC’s Refugee Olympic Team program launched in 2016, it has been over a decade since Mardini was able to represent her country on the international stage at the 2012 World Short Course Swimming Championships. With the apparent end of the Civil War, she may once again be able to represent her home country.
Mardini’s family home was destroyed in the long-running Syrian Civil War, which has caused over half-a-million deaths and destruction of at least half of the country’s homes. In August 2015, Yusra and her sister Sarah decided to flee Syria. They first traveled to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they were to be smuggled into Greece by boat into Greece. The inflatable boat they were on carried 18 people but was designed for less than half-that.
The motor on boat stopped working and it began to take on water in the Aegean sea, forcing Yusra, Sarah, and two other people to push and pull the boat for over three hours until it reached the island of Lesbos.
The two then traveled 2,100 kilometers to Germany where they settled and were able to return to training as refugees.“Of course I miss my homeland,” she said in a 2016 interview.“Maybe I will build my life here in Germany, and when I am an old lady I will go back to Syria and teach people about my experience.”
The war came to a sudden end last week after Rebel forces made significant and rapid gains in government strongholds like Aleppo, leading to the government regime’s allies abandoning it and dictator Bashar Al-Assad fleeing the country for Russia. The Rebels have installed a transitional government, and while the war as a full-scale conflict has effectively ended, smaller skirmishes viewed as a legacy of the 13-year war continue in pockets around the country.
Now the country will attempt to rebuild and stabilize. The country has continued to send athletes to the Olympic Games throughout the war, including in swimming, but most have trained outside of the country. Judoka Hasan Bayan, for example, stayed in France after the Paris Olympic Games, traveling to Germany and applying for asylum.
Now Mardini says: “Now we are free“. Things are changing very quickly but the hope for a better life in Syria is welcomed by the UNHCR ambassador, looking forward to coming back home to where all her family and friends live.
“Today is an important day for us because is the first day they can go down on the street under a new flag that respects human rights” .
About her future Yusra said: “Maybe I’ll swim for Syria, for sure I’ll be there with the Yusra Mardini Foundation to help people through sport.
Cresce a Padova e dintorni dove inizialmente porta avanti le sue due passioni, la danza classica e il nuoto, preferendo poi quest’ultimo.
Azzurrina dal 2007 al 2010 rappresenta l’Italia con la nazionale giovanile in diverse manifestazioni internazionali fino allo stop forzato per due delicati interventi chirurgici.
2014
Nel 2014 fa il suo esordio …
