Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) with the support of the French Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Paris 2024, the training camp runs from 12 to 21 August and is the first time the athletes have come together as a team. 

In addition to final training sessions and providing access to sports medicine experts at CREPS, the athletes have taken part in team bonding sessions, given interviews to the world's media and received the official Asics kit they will wear during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

Paris 2024 will be the third consecutive Paralympic Games where the IPC has established a Paralympic Refugee Team. According to London 2012 Paralympian and Paralympic Refugee Team Chef de Mission, Nyasha Mharakurwa, the group is the most prepared yet. 

"It was fantastic to bring the team together for the first time to benefit from such world-class sport at CREPS in Reims as we put the finishing touches to our preparations for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The IPC has been determined to ensure this is the best prepared RPT yet and this first ever training camp for the RPT has ensured our team is as ready as possible thanks to the incredible hospitality of our hosts," Mharakurwa said. 

"I am really proud of how quickly the athletes have come together. On paper, we thought this might be a challenge, given the diversity of the team and the differences in language and culture. However, from day one they have built relationships and supported each other, united by the fact that at Paris 2024 they are part of something much bigger than themselves". 

The team of eight athletes and two support runners - the largest in history - will compete in six sports. Four of them have competed in previous Paralympics, including Para-Triathlete Ibrahim Al Hussein. "I feel that we are much more than a team, we are a family. It's incredible how much we have in common because of the difficult journeys we've all been through. It's as if we've known each other all our lives through our struggles," he said. 

"We are all proud to be members of the Refugee Paralympic Team and to represent not only ourselves, but also the 120 million displaced people around the world and the more than one billion people with disabilities," added Ibrahim Al Hussein. 

One of the most special moments came on 18 August, when the team was welcomed by local dignitaries and schoolchildren from Reims. The children presented them a personal message of support, stressing how inspired they were by the athletes and their stories. At the end, the team members smiled while posing for photos with the children, who were wearing their Asics team kit for the first time. 

The official sportswear features a design of 'Yagasuri', representing determination and strength, and incorporates the IPC symbol colours of red, blue and green. The material is lightweight with excellent water absorption and quick drying properties. "It is an honour to receive this uniform. Sport has changed my life. I can't imagine me without it. Being part of this Team at the Paralympics is a dream come true," said wheelchair fencer Castro Grueso. 

The Refugee Paralympic Team will be hard to miss as they will be the first team to march into the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games at the Place de la Concorde on 28 August. Zakia Khudadadi, who won the 47kg category at the 2023 European Taekwondo Championships, will be the first member of the team to compete on the opening day, hoping to secure the team's first ever podium finish. 

"It would be a dream come true to be the first to ever win a medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team," said Khudadadi who has been based in Paris since 2021. "If this happens, I know how much inspiration and hope it would give to millions of people around the world, especially women and girls. It will show them that no matter how difficult the struggles they face, they should never give up."