{"id":584935,"date":"2024-05-02T09:34:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=584935"},"modified":"2024-05-02T09:34:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:34:36","slug":"swimmers-matin-balsini-alaa-maso-named-to-refugee-olympic-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimmers-matin-balsini-alaa-maso-named-to-refugee-olympic-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimmers Matin Balsini, Alaa Maso Named to Refugee Olympic Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swimmers Matin Balsini, Alaa Maso Named to Refugee Olympic Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swimmers Matin Balsini<\/strong> and Alaa Maso<\/strong> have been named to the Refugee Olympic team or the Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The swimming duo are among 36 individuals \u2013 23 men, 13 women \u2013 from three continents named to the team. They will compete under the French acronym EOR (Equipe Olympique des Refugies) with its own emblem for the first time<\/a>. The athletes hail from 11 countries, are being hosted by 15 different nations and will compete in 12 sports.<\/p>\n

Maso, 24, is in his second Olympics<\/a>. He was raised in Aleppo, Syria, before resettling in Germany after fleeing the country\u2019s civil war in 2015. He competed in the men\u2019s 50 freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n