In the middle of a stormy stretch of the Aegean Sea, 17-year-old Yusra Mardini looked fear and despair in the eye and refused to back down.

In 2015, fleeing war-torn Syria with her sister aboard a tiny, overloaded dinghy, the boat’s engine suddenly failed in open water.

With 20 terrified refugees on board and the craft beginning to fill with water, survival seemed hopeless.

Yet Yusra, a trained swimmer, knew what had to be done.

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Alongside her sister and a few others, she jumped into the cold, rolling sea and for more than three hours, pushed and guided the sinking boat toward the Greek island of Lesbos, saving every single life on board.

That harrowing crossing was only the start of a remarkable journey. From Lesbos, she and her sister trekked across Europe in search of safety and ended up in Germany, where Yusra resumed her swimming training with renewed purpose.

Her story of courage and resilience captured global attention, and in 2016 she was selected as one of just ten athletes on the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, an unprecedented moment in Olympic history.

In Rio, Yusra competed in both the 100 metres butterfly and 100 metres freestyle.

She won her 100m butterfly heat with a time of 1:09.21, a powerful symbol of her determination, though her times in both events placed her outside the semifinal qualifying positions.

In the butterfly, she ranked 41st overall, and in freestyle, she finished 45th.
Today, Yusra Mardini is 28 and has expanded her mission beyond swimming.

She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR, speaks globally on refugee issues, and runs the Yusra Mardini Foundation, which empowers displaced youth through sports and education.

FKA/JE

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