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The Refugee Olympic Team at Rio 2016: rallying around which flag?

As the euphoria surrounding the inclusion of the Refugee Olympic Team at 2016 Rio fizzles out it is time that we look beyond the waving of flags.

By Faye Donnelly and Natasha Saunders
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Some of the members of Team Refugee Olympic Athletes. Andy Miah/Flickr. (CC 2.0 by-nc)

The 2016 Rio Olympics captured global headlines and imaginations for a plethora of reasons. Memorable moments ranged from green water appearing in the diving pool to feigned robberies at petrol stations and Doaa Elghobashy wearing a hijab whilst competing on Egypt's women's beach volleyball team. The creation of the Team Refugee Olympic Athletes (Team ROA), by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) also took centre stage. This gesture is without precedent in the entire history of the Olympic Games.

What does the creation of the Olympic Refugee Team mean, and whom does this team actually represent?

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0