Paris Olympics: Cuba Demands Exclusion of Olympic Gold Medalist from Refugee Team

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The Cuban Olympic Committee has called for the immediate exclusion of canoeist Fernando Dayán Jorge from the Refugee Olympic Team for the Paris 2024 Games. Follow our elaborated Paris Olympics Coverage

This comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in May that 37 athletes from 11 countries would compete in Paris as part of the Refugee Olympic Team, which was created for the Rio Olympics in 2016 to symbolize hope and highlight the plight of refugees.

For the first time, the Refugee Team includes Cuban athletes: Fernando Dayán Jorge, who won a gold medal in the 1,000-meter canoe sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and weightlifter Ramiro Mora. Both athletes now reside in the United States and Great Britain, respectively.

Since the announcement, Cuba has opposed the inclusion of these athletes, arguing that they are not true refugees as they were not persecuted or forcibly uprooted, but rather chose to emigrate. The Cuban Olympic Committee's official statement on Tuesday criticized one of the athletes for making "disrespectful and fallacious political statements" against Cuba.

The statement did not specify which athlete it referred to, but Jorge has been openly critical of the Cuban government since he left his delegation in Mexico to settle in the United States.

The Cuban Olympic Committee insists that these athletes do not meet the criteria of being uprooted by war or persecution and demands Jorge's expulsion from the Paris 2024 Games, citing the rules of the International Olympic Movement.

Jorge has declined to comment on the petition from the Cuban Olympic Committee. The situation underscores the ongoing tensions surrounding the definition and inclusion of refugees in international sporting events.