Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Syrian refugee who had part of a leg amputated after a bombing will be one of the torchbearers for the Greek leg of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic flame relay.
The Greek Olympic committee said Friday that 27-year-old Ibrahim Al-Hussein will carry the torch at an Athens refugee camp hosting 1,500 people next Tuesday — the next-to-last day of the relay in Greece.
Al-Hussein reached Greece on a rubber dinghy in 2014, and has been granted asylum in the country. He is a former competitive swimmer and judo athlete.
Despite having part of his leg amputated, he trains regularly in swimming pools and plays basketball, in a wheelchair, with an Athens club.
The flame, which was lit Thursday at a ceremony in Ancient Olympia, will be handed to Brazilian officials next Wednesday.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.