What if a person has no nation to be proud of, no country to represent, no national flag to show and no race or citizen who would pray and claps with an aspiration for the player to win? Will such player have the courage to fight back and participate in Olympics and that too at a tender age of 18? Yes I was touched with the courage of this young, beautiful and courageous girl Yusra Mardini who represents not any nation but the whole world. Officially she played as Refugee Olympic Athletes but I feel she represented the whole of mankind and all nations of the world.
Any elite athlete would have the dream of performing in Olympics and winning for his/her country. Each nation feels proud to bag the medals and the whole world praises them. I am not a sports fan but still enjoyed Olympics 2016 and loved the performance by certain specific female players like
- Katie Ledecky of USA
- Risako Kawai of Japan
- Sakshi Malik and P. V. Sindhu of India
- Yusra Mardini representing whole of mankind
I was inspired by the spirited and lively performance by Katie and the joyful victory followed by glorious respect to the coach by Risako. Sakhsi Malik’s innocence and child like joy after flipping a loosing battle and an excellent positive-respectable attitude of P.V. Sindhu after loosing out from Carolina Martin.
Being not so sports fan, I could not enjoy the olympics but have been getting exciting updates from friends. However the story of Yusra Mardini would turn any rock heart into foam.
Yusra Mardini, originally born in Syria in March 5, 1998 had to flee from the country in August 2015 after her house was destroyed in Syrian civil war. Her only companion was her sister Sarah and she managed to escape the prying eyes of the terrorist. She wanted to settle in Germany but had no easy means to reach there. They had to go through Damaskas, Beirut, Lebanon, followed by Turkey, where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece by boat with 18 other migrants who were the fellow passengers on a single boat that had a maximum capacity of 6 persons. For obvious reason the motor of the boat failed and it began to take on water in the Aegean Sea. Its only Mardini, her sister, and two other people who knew how to swim. They got into water and pushed the boat for over 3 hours and made it reach Lesbos. Some sources claim that Mardini’s sister and the two men got fatigued soon and its only Mardini who took the courage and made the boat sail into destination. 17th year old girl swam alone in ice freeze water to save the life of 19 people. She and her sister did not have warm cloths, no shoes etc. but they did not give up. They traveled through Greece, Serbia and Hungary to Germany. She lived in Germany as a refugee and with help of a local person who could speak Egyptian and German, she managed to get entry into a local swimming club. After being settled in Berlin in September 2015, her parents managed to fled Syria and live in Germany.
Yusra Mardini, participated in Olympics 2016 and she is not representing any country but is a part of 10 member team, playing as “Refugee Camp” under the Olympic flag. She ranked 45 in 100 meters butterfly.
At such a tender age, she faced terrible troubles of life, saw deaths in front of her but this 18 year old girl never gave up. She fought back with tremendous courage and is a live inspiration to the whole mankind.