In this opening episode of a new series of Unsung, we’re telling the story of the IOC’s Olympic Refugee Team. The Olympics will feature 36 athletes from 11 different countries of origin, competing in 12 different sports. At the Paralympics, eight athletes and one guide runner will make up the refugee team

This will be the team’s third appearance at the Games, after making its debut in Rio in 2016. Back then, there were close to 60 million displaced people globally. On the eve of Paris 2024, that number has now soared to well over 100 million.

Especially in a year typified by highly emotive elections all over the world, there is a tendency to distil the topic of refugees and immigration to faceless numbers and dispassionate data. But each statistic has a human story behind it. You’ll hear a couple of those in this episode.

Matin Balsini and Dorsa Yavarivafa were both born in Iran, the country where almost half of this year’s Refugee Team comes from Iran, giving some indication as to just how bad the situation is for Iranian athletes.

The Iranian government exerts significant control over sports and often uses athletes for political propaganda, enforcing strict compliance with its ideological mandates. Those who dissent or fail to conform face dire consequences.

It’s a repressive environment that stifles freedom of expression and forces many talented athletes to defect in search of safety and the liberty to compete without political interference. Athletes like Matin and Dorsa, who share their painful experiences and emotional journeys in finding a new home in the UK, and the stories of their successful route to the Olympics in Paris.