Redefining refugees with Yusra Mardini and Gatkuoth Puok Thiep

If you have a look at Yusra Mardini’s Instagram feed – there are clues about what she does: pictures of swimming training and plenty of selfies. She’s clearly an international standard athlete. But her story runs deep – after fleeing Syria and swimming for 10km alongside a boat of displaced people looking for a new start, she ended up in Germany training for the Olympics. She refuses to be defined by her status as a refugee and wants you to reassess what you think about the word too. In a huge act of kindness, marathon runner Gatkuoth Puok Thiep gave up his place on the Refugee Olympic Team. He lost his father, mother and sister to the war in South Sudan. His inspiring story, although tragic, is full of hope about the future. We sat down with both for World Refugee Day. Don’t forget to subscribe for more of the best Olympic talking points every week. And leave a five star review on iTunes and other places if you liked what you heard. We want you to think just like an Olympian. LINKS: SPORTSPIEL: https://sportspielonline.com/ BOOK: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/yusra-mardini/butterfly WE ARE ONE DOCUMENTARY: https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/features/we-are-one/