:00:00. > :00:00.Now on BBC News, as part of a look back at big stories of 2016, we
:00:00. > :00:12.follow the story of the team of refugee Olympic athletes.
:00:13. > :00:20.All eyes are on Rio as the world's most elite athletes hope to make
:00:21. > :00:23.their country is proud. And for the first time, the International
:00:24. > :00:34.Olympic Committee have announced that there will be a new team
:00:35. > :00:37.created for refugee athletes. We will welcome these refugee athletes
:00:38. > :00:46.to the Olympic Games, with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic
:00:47. > :00:55.anthem. We are all touched and moved by the magnitude of the current
:00:56. > :01:02.worldwide refugee crisis. 43 refugees have been identified as
:01:03. > :01:07.hopeful. Only ten will be selected. I will be following the journeys of
:01:08. > :01:16.some of those athletes in Germany, Kenya and here in Brazil. This is
:01:17. > :01:22.not just about winning medals, but a chance to reclaim their identity and
:01:23. > :01:39.save their families. Through sport peace can be achieved.
:01:40. > :01:47.Last year, Germany received almost half a million asylum applications.
:01:48. > :01:51.But officials said at least a million people have arrived, seeking
:01:52. > :01:56.refuge across the country, including here in Berlin. Many of them from
:01:57. > :02:20.Syria, forced to leave because of the Civil War.
:02:21. > :02:25.Yusra Mardini and her sister ended up in a refugee camp on the western
:02:26. > :03:01.outskirts of Berlin last September. She inspired me from the first time.
:03:02. > :03:07.She told me about her dream of a gold medal at the Olympics and I
:03:08. > :03:12.said, were! Look at your best times, you did not practice for two years.
:03:13. > :03:23.She said, I can do it and the year will give me time to practice. We
:03:24. > :03:32.started really slow in the first weeks. Now we are on a normal level.
:03:33. > :03:39.She has each week around about 30 hours of training and intensive
:03:40. > :03:46.weeks, more. What is the goal for Rio? For Rio, it is a goal to be
:03:47. > :03:47.there, to take part and to swim her personal best. That is a realistic
:03:48. > :04:26.goal. Whilst Yusra's father is not her
:04:27. > :04:36.official coach, he still comes to the pool every day.
:04:37. > :04:57.Tell me how difficult it was to train in the war.
:04:58. > :05:06.After much persuasion from his daughters, he eventually agreed to
:05:07. > :05:36.the girls leaving Syria. Yusra was just 17 years old at the time.
:05:37. > :05:46.In Kenya, Tegla Loroupe is putting her runners through their paces.
:05:47. > :05:52.Most of them are refugees. She held time trials in the country's two
:05:53. > :06:06.largest refugee camps and selected the fastest to develop them into
:06:07. > :06:10.elite athletes. It is early morning. Rebecca and the other athletes are
:06:11. > :06:16.preparing the training camp for an important visit by the IOC. She is
:06:17. > :06:21.one of 30 people living here. Most of them have left their families in
:06:22. > :06:29.the refugee camps, and have since had little contact with them. My
:06:30. > :06:33.goal is to make sure I succeed in life so I moved my family to
:06:34. > :06:38.somewhere they can feel safe, somewhere my siblings can go to good
:06:39. > :06:40.school and also this running thing. I will work harder for it, maybe it
:06:41. > :06:55.can take me somewhere. To have a refugee status is not
:06:56. > :06:59.easy. You're a nobody. As an athlete I realise there is so much I can do
:07:00. > :07:07.for people instead of just enjoying life. It helps that the new
:07:08. > :07:17.president of the IOC, Thomas back, who is a friend of mine, he loves
:07:18. > :07:21.this idea to set up this camp. She told me this is when she went to the
:07:22. > :07:26.refugee camps, hoping that out of the hundreds of thousands of people,
:07:27. > :07:34.she could find a handful within raw talent to turn them into top
:07:35. > :07:41.runners. -- a handful with enough raw talent to turn them into top
:07:42. > :07:46.runners. The IOC finally arrive with athletics Kenya to assess their
:07:47. > :07:52.progress, and to start short listing athletes for the refugee team. They
:07:53. > :07:57.have been in there for about two hours now in a closed meeting. We
:07:58. > :08:01.don't know the outcome of what will happen, but everyone is just waiting
:08:02. > :08:11.in the sun, waiting to see what happens. Whilst the meeting goes on,
:08:12. > :08:19.Rebecca tells me about her past. I was born in a refugee camp in
:08:20. > :08:25.Ethiopia. Later we went back home and war broke out where my dad was
:08:26. > :08:29.killed. Where is your mum? My mum is in South Sudan. I don't know exactly
:08:30. > :08:36.where she is. What happened when she went away and I was with my
:08:37. > :08:41.grandmother and siblings. We run away together so we don't know where
:08:42. > :08:44.she is. Was that hard leaving her? It was really hard and as for some
:08:45. > :08:53.years back we thought she was actually dead.
:08:54. > :08:58.Rebecca was one of 4 million people forced to flee because of the
:08:59. > :09:10.Sudanese conflict. She has been living here in the largest refugee
:09:11. > :09:18.camp in the world. The majority of the refugees are from Somalia and
:09:19. > :09:23.with South Sudanese, we are the minority and most of us are
:09:24. > :09:28.Christian, so we are really facing challenges due to the religious
:09:29. > :09:37.differences and also the Al-Shabab. It is really horrible for us.
:09:38. > :09:40.Sometimes, a lot of bombing and sometimes they will come and
:09:41. > :09:47.threaten our people in the community, especially when you have
:09:48. > :09:55.a shop. Many ladies from refugee camps, they end up giving up on
:09:56. > :09:57.life. Every time we wake up we think we have to thank god, at least we
:09:58. > :10:17.have seen a new day. It is the day after the IOC visit
:10:18. > :10:25.and Rebecca and the others are training hard. They have been told
:10:26. > :10:31.that as it stands, no one's running times are good enough to qualify for
:10:32. > :10:36.the refugee team and they have a week to resubmit new ones. Rebecca
:10:37. > :10:42.must shave four seconds off her personal best if she is to qualify.
:10:43. > :10:46.Qualification, we are struggling for them to qualify, but the last group
:10:47. > :10:53.to be selected will be the best to go to Rio. These people, if they
:10:54. > :10:57.were in their countryside training, they could run better. We are not
:10:58. > :11:01.going to Rio to run for medals, we're going to Rio to show that
:11:02. > :11:11.through sports, peace can be achieved. With the help of a
:11:12. > :11:17.scholarship given by the International Olympics committee,
:11:18. > :11:23.Yusra Mardini is able to swim and go to an elite sports school based at
:11:24. > :11:26.the Olympic Park. Her English and German have improved, and she is
:11:27. > :11:37.ever more determined to make it onto the refugee team. It is Sunday. A
:11:38. > :11:45.rare day off from training. After my mum had three
:11:46. > :11:47.German lessons with her, and she said she is the same age,
:11:48. > :11:51.you want to meet with her. We had a hamburger and since
:11:52. > :11:54.then we were friends. What did you think of each
:11:55. > :12:06.other when you first met? I thought she is crazy
:12:07. > :12:11.and I would have a lot of fun. For the short time she
:12:12. > :12:13.is learning German... Sometimes it is hard
:12:14. > :12:24.to pronounce some words. Yusra is settled in Germany
:12:25. > :12:29.but she misses Syria. Yusra told me the engine had
:12:30. > :12:58.stopped and the overcrowded So she and her sister had
:12:59. > :13:09.to get out and swim, whilst others bailed water
:13:10. > :14:04.from the boat. After three hours in the water,
:14:05. > :14:07.Yusra and the others made From Greece they made their way
:14:08. > :14:19.like the thousands before It took them 25 days
:14:20. > :14:42.to get to Germany. In Brazil, Yolande Mabika
:14:43. > :14:46.and Popole Misenga are within They are refugees living
:14:47. > :15:18.and training in Rio de Janeiro. They both came from one
:15:19. > :15:20.of the areas worst affected When they came to Rio in 2013
:15:21. > :15:32.for the World Judo Championships, they escaped from the team and made
:15:33. > :15:49.a bid for asylum. A local charity stepped
:15:50. > :15:53.in to help them continue But their coaches
:15:54. > :17:19.are among the best. One of the biggest challenges
:17:20. > :17:21.was having to change That was the last day
:17:22. > :18:37.Yolande saw her family. She does not even know
:18:38. > :19:18.if they are still alive. He is the stepfather
:19:19. > :19:22.to his wife's three children. Make it onto the refugee team and,
:19:23. > :19:42.perhaps, their families back home With just weeks to go,
:19:43. > :20:05.training has intensified. She does on average 240 lengths
:20:06. > :20:07.per day, including one hour in the gym on top
:20:08. > :20:09.of homework and school. It is quite great coming here
:20:10. > :20:45.to watch Yusra train because now, when I see her like everyone else,
:20:46. > :20:49.on the TV, I think I will feel proud watching what she has achieved
:20:50. > :20:57.and how far she has come. For the past seven months, the IOC
:20:58. > :21:03.has been following the progress of 43 refugee athletes
:21:04. > :21:08.around the world. Like Yusra, they have all somehow
:21:09. > :21:10.overcome huge personal adversity Now, ten will go to Rio to represent
:21:11. > :21:18.the 59 million people who have been They have qualified
:21:19. > :21:56.for the Olympic Games. She remained four seconds short
:21:57. > :22:01.of the qualifying time. But five runners from the Kenya
:22:02. > :22:07.group have been selected. And their coach has been
:22:08. > :23:15.chosen to lead the Team Good morning. We've had a lot of
:23:16. > :23:17.frost