Would Thomas Bach have his sights set on the Nobel Peace Prize? Visiting Athens, Greece, where he was invited to a sports trophy presentation, the IOC President allowed himself a detour to a refugee camp. In itself, already, a gesture rich in symbols. But the event had an even more political resonance when the German leader announced that the route of the Rio Games flame would pass through the migrant camp near Athens. And, better still, that one of its refugees would be invited to ensure a relay next April.
The IOC has never lagged behind in the current refugee crisis. Last year, the Olympic organization announced that it had released an aid fund of 2 million dollars, intended for the national Olympic committees to finance their initiatives in favor of migrants. At the last count, the jackpot would have been used almost entirely.
Since then, Thomas Bach has explained that athletes currently housed in camps, in Europe or elsewhere, would be welcome at the Rio Games. Pere Miro, the IOC's deputy director for relations with the Olympic movement, unearthed three at the end of 2015: a Syrian swimmer who had taken refuge in Germany, a Congolese judoka in Brazil and an Iranian taekwondo specialist based in Belgium.
In Athens, Thomas Bach took an additional step on Thursday January 28. The IOC president visited the Eleonas camp, he even kicked a ball with the migrants on a makeshift field, then he spoke at length in private with a family of six refugees from Yemen. Above all, Thomas Bach explained that there would be a team of refugees at the Rio Games. “There won’t be many of them, probably between 5 and 10,” he said. Then he said that these migrants waiting for a host country would be housed in the athletes' village and would parade at the opening ceremony under the Olympic banner.
Not bad, already. But Thomas Bach, accompanied on his trip to Athens by Jacques Rogge (our photo), wants to push the symbolism even further. His idea: to pass the route of the flame, at the end of April in Greece, through the Eleonas refugee camp, installed since August 2015 in an industrial zone on the outskirts of Athens. A very large camp where families of migrants from Iran and Afghanistan, but also from Iraq, Syria, Mali and Sierra Leone live.
The legendary torch must in fact be lit on April 21 in Olympia, as tradition dictates. He must then live his life as an Olympic torch for 12 days in Greece, before boarding a plane, fastening his seat belt and heading to Rio de Janeiro where the organizers of the Games are waiting for him on May 3, 2016. In Greece, he will offer a unique detour into the Eleonas camp. Historical and deliciously media-friendly.
Not bad, really not bad. But that's not all. In Athens, the Olympic flame will be carried by one of the migrants housed in the Eleonas camp. The lucky one will be invited to take over. “We want to show the world in what conditions these thousands of refugees are currently living, what their situation is and their difficulties,” said Thomas Bach. Top.
