The size of the Refugee Olympic Team has grown from 10 athletes at the Rio Olympics in 2016 - to 37 athletes this year at the Paris Games.
The International Olympic Committee was inspired to create the team due to the refugee crisis that dominated the news in 2015 and 2016.
By the end of 2016, the United Nations said a record 65.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes, owing to conflict or persecution.
At the time, the incoming United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, was asked to support the team and the creation of the Olympic Refuge Foundation.
He says the idea received his full-hearted support.
"Refugees like any other young people like to compete and win medals and get enthusiastic about being part of the sports community. But it is also a moment in which people that have often lost everything can gain back dignity, identity and give back to the communities hosting them, in this case through athletic performances."
The Refugee Olympic team is competing at its third Games this year in Paris.
37 athletes are competing under the I-O-C flag because they have been displaced from their birth country.
The members speak different languages and come from various parts of the world.
They represent the number of refugees worldwide, now at a record high of almost 120 million or 1.5 per cent of the world's population.
Compared to a decade ago, the total number of refugees globally has more than tripled.
Mr Grandi says the original mission of the Refugee Olympic Team in 2016 to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis is now more relevant than ever.
"The Olympic Games are an important opportunity to push for some good values to become more accepted worldwide and this is also the spirit of the Refugee Olympic Team. Like I said, it is a symbol of inclusion, of equality, of achievement for a large community around the world of refugees, of displaced people that is often subjected to the contrary: to discrimination, to pushback and to exclusion."
The team in 2020 just missed out on winning a medal, and the hope is with some returning athletes in the team, the goal will be achieved.
If it happens, it would make history.
This year's team is led by an athlete who competed as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
As the team's Chef de Mission, Afghan cyclist Masomah Ali Zada says she has been incredibly inspired by all 37 athletes on the team.
"A medal for one of us, for these athletes in these Olympic games. It'll be huge for sure, and it's a big achievement. And for sure, for all refugees around the world, it'll be really a big achievement. And I'm sure that we'll make proud all refugees around the world, we will make smile them, and we hope for that. But for me already, all these athletes that will participate in the Olympic Games, they're already winner. And I really appreciate their hard work, and I really appreciate that they didn't give up. And I'm really proud of all of these athletes in our team."
A member of the Refugee Olympic Team, Iranian canoe sprint athlete Saman Soltani lost her family, and eventually resettled in Austria in August 2022.
She says as a refugee athlete, there are many challenges to overcome to achieve her dreams.
"It's really hard for me to accept that I lost everything in my previous life. When I enter to the third country, the difficulties is learning the new language, making a new life, find new friends, integrate to that culture, and also follow our dreams. As an athlete, my biggest dream was participate at the Olympic Games and now it's that winning the gold at the Olympic Games. But right now, I am in a good way and I'm really happy that I'm representing a hundred million. And now I see that it's 120 million refugees all over the world. And we want to say that when the situation looks bad, when you feel that the life is end, it's not true. "
And she says she is proud of her refugee identity.
"It's not always a choice for us. We had to flee or we couldn't go back to our country, which is not a really good thing. But it's important to any stage that you accept who you are, and accept what's happened to you. And the more important is the reaction to the things which happened to you because something can break you down or something can make you a superhero of your life. So for me, in my case, I'm refugee, I'm Iranian, and I'm proud of who I am. And I'm proud of this team that I am one of the member of it."
James Macleod is the Director of Olympic Solidarity at the IOC.
He says the impact of the Refugee Olympic Team goes far beyond the two weeks of the competition itself.
"We've even got one of the athletes, if you may remember him, Cyrille Tchatchet who carried the flag actually in Tokyo. He was competing in weightlifting. He's joined the team now as our mental health practitioner. So the connection between the Paris team, the Tokyo team, and the Rio team is very strong. And as you know, Yiech Pur Biel, who is in the Rio team is now an IOC member. So all of those connections are there. In terms of repatriation, no one from our team has done that yet. But there are some athletes that have become citizens of their host country, notably Kimia Alizadeh, who you'll see competing here in TaeKwonDo representing Bulgaria. And that is, for us, a success."
Jojo Ferris is the Head of the Olympic Refuge Foundation that funds the training program and resources for athletes on the Refugee Olympic Team.
She says this year's group of 37 were shortlisted from 74 refugee athletes, who also received scholarship support to continue training, preparing and participating in high-level competitions.
"Selection is based on two main criteria, and that's the sporting level, which we look at very closely with all the international federations. And then ensuring that those athletes have their refugee status verified by the UN Refugee Refugee Agency, UNHCR. There's also consideration that needs to be given for the team itself with the diversity; and ensuring that this team represents the global situation and of displacement refugees more broadly."
She says the mission of the foundation is to promote the ancient Greek tradition of an Olympic truce, featured in the early Olympic games.
Dating back to 9th century BC, it uses sport to create a culture of peace through friendship and understanding between athletes.
"It allows us to draw attention and understanding of the global reality that 120 million people, or one in every 69 people across the globe have been forced to flee their homes. And in addition to the team at the Olympic Refuge Foundation, it's our work, 365 days a year to support refugees and displaced people through sport, whether that be in Uganda through a Game Connect program, focusing on improving mental health and wellbeing; or in Bangladesh building resilience to address the issue of climate displacement. Or right here in Greater Paris, where we have an amazing initiative, which provides free access to thousands of people who are affected by displacement to access sport, whether it be boxing, taekwondo, swimming, dance, many, many more."
Since 2017, the Olympic Refuge Foundation has provided access to sports to almost 400,000 people and training for 1,600 coaches.
Their goal is to reach 1 million young people affected by displacement.
