Rio 2016 Olympic Update (Day 5)
Long before the International Olympic Committee created the refugee team to include a large amount of the population in this day and age they had the Independent Olympic Athlete Team.
Whereas the refugee team was formed specifically for displaced athletes in an era where there are more displaced people than ever before the IOA was formed in 1992 when political issues began to become more prevalent.
In 1992 the world was in a different place as many countries in Eastern Europe were fighting for independence and many were taking things much too far.
That included Yugoslavia who had been fighting to keep their country together but these efforts led to multiple sanctions from the United Nations.
As countries began to split off people were caught in the middle without a real country.
Macedonia had just been formed but there was no time to truly form governing bodies including an Olympic Committee.
Meanwhile, Yugoslavia was banned from participating in the Olympics, one of their many sanctions from the UN.
As much as the countries deserved, or simply couldn’t, their sanctions punishing athletes who had nothing to do with the issues in these countries seemed to make no sense.
These athletes had worked just as hard to make the Olympics as anyone else in the Olympics and yet because of politics they were no longer allowed to attend what may have been their one and only Olympic Games.
The IOC decided that this was not right and so they formed the Independent Olympic Participants to allow athletes from Yugoslavia and Macedonia to participate.
Since 1992 the IOC has formed these teams when necessary as in many years sanctions have left certain Olympic Committees out of the Olympics.
In 2016 the IOC formed the team once again this time as a de facto Team Kuwait.
In 2010 the IOC banned the KOC after legislation was passed that allowed the government to interfere with national sporting organisations.
In 2015 the IOC did the same thing after no changes were made to the legislation.
That meant that Kuwaiti athletes would not be able to participate under the Kuwait flag for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Instead, these athletes would be placed in the IOA and would still be able to compete in the Olympics but not represent their country.
For the IOC it is a chance to punish the organisations that are breaking the rules but not punishing the athletes who have little to no say in what happens in the politics of sport.
The turmoil often means that the IOA is not headed to many medals and up until this year they had never taken home a gold medal.
That was until Day 5 when Fehaid Al-Deehani took home the gold medal in the Men’s Double Trap shooting event.
Al-Deehani has been a somewhat controversial figure speaking out against the Kuwaiti government and refused to carry the Olympic Flag at the opening ceremonies.
Despite that refusal he made history in the Rio Olympics taking the first independent gold medal in the history of the games.
Generally, these athletes are reeling from the turmoil that has caused them to become independent athletes.
It can throw an athlete off of their game and that is the worst thing to happen to any athlete just before the games.
Al-Deehani put that out of his mind on Day 5 and took home a gold medal for the IOA team.
It is a major accomplishment and it is history on the fifth day of competition at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The Canadian Story:
Making Strides
They may not have earned medals but Crispin Duenas and Eleanor Harvey played upset king and queen with Duenas beating the third-ranked archer and Harvey beating the world #1 in fencing to make headlines for Canadians
Moving On
The women’s basketball team had their last group stage game in Day 5 and came out on top of Senegal to ensure their spot in the quarter-finals and finishing tied with the UFC for the top of Group B as they prepare to make a run at a medal
Another swimming success
For another night the women made their impact in the pool taking home another medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay as Penny Oleksiak swam the anchor and challenged for silver, falling just short but still earning her third medal at the games at only 16-years old
| Day 5 Medal Results: | Day 6 Medal Events: |
| Canoe Slalom Men’s Kayak Single 1. Joseph Clarke (GBR) 2. Peter Kauzer (SLO) 3. Jiří Prskavec (CZE) Cycling (Road) Diving Fencing Gymnastics Judo Rowing Shooting Swimming Table Tennis Weightlifting |
Archery Women’s Individual Canoe Slalom Cycling (Track) Fencing Gymnastics Judo Rowing Rugby Sevens Shooting Swimming Table Tennis |
