Rio 2016 Olympics: Syrian Yusra Mardini becomes first to represent Refugee Team, wins heat

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 06/08/2016 at 20:40 GMT

Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, competing as the first participant of the Olympic Refugee Team, won her 100m butterfly heat on Saturday but did not qualify for the semi-finals.

The 18-year-old won her heat but her time of 1:9.21 was not quick enough for her to progress through to Saturday's semi-finals in the event.

"Everything was amazing," Mardini said after her heat.

The only thing I ever wanted was to compete in the Olympics.

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"Competing with all these great champions is exciting," she added.

Mardini, who was a competitive swimmer until she left Damascus, was the first to compete from the Refugee Olympic Team, which is being represented by 10 competitors.

Mardini's astonishing 25-day journey took her to Lebanon, across the Aegean Sea and finally to Germany as part of her remarkable story.

She fled Syria a year ago and was forced to swim for her life in a desperate 1,000-mile trek, recounted in detail by a BBC report back in July.

Indeed, along with her sister, Mardini pushed a dinghy full of refugees for three hours in open water to prevent it from capsizing, eventually making it to land and saving the lives of the 18 people in the boat.

"I remember that without swimming I would never be alive maybe because of the story of this boat. It’s a positive memory for me," Mardini recalled.

Syrian refugee team swimmer Yusra Mardini, 18, from Syria practices at the Olympic swimming venue

Image credit: Reuters

Mardini's compatriot, Rami Anis, will be the next to represent the team at Rio on Tuesday in the pool.

The team is also made up of five competitors from South Sudan, two from DR Congo and one from Ethiopia.

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