Yusra Mardini - two-time Olympian, three-time World Aquatics Championship competitor and global icon - has announced her retirement from competitive swimming today.
Yusra first burst onto the international scene while competing for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Games. She followed this up by competing at three editions of the World Aquatics Championships and at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
From her harrowing journey as a Syrian war refugee to realising her dream of competing internationally, Yusra's grit and determination against all odds captured the world's attention. Appointed the youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR, Yusra used her voice for the forcibly displaced people around the globe.
She penned the autobiography Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian – My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph in 2018. Four years later, Netflix released The Swimmers, a real-life biopic about Yusra and her sister Sara.
The BAFTA-nominated film chronicled their 25-day odyssey from Damascus during the Syrian Civil War through nine countries – which included swimming for three hours in the open Aegean Ocean to reach the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos.
Reaching Germany, they received the right of residency and resumed their Olympic aspirations, training under the tutelage of Sven Spannekrebs.
“It’s crazy to think that millions of people go through that,” Mardini said in an earlier interview with World Aquatics. “I think about it a lot because I tell my story a lot. I was very, very lucky to be fine – and my sister, not to lose her.”
For Yusra, this dream came true as part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team that competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Yusra competed as part of the FINA Independent Athletes team at the Budapest 2017 and Gwangju 2019 editions of the World Aquatics Championships.
Yusra competed for the FINA Refugee Team during last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Budapest. This was Yusra’s last championship competing as a refugee as soon after Budapest 2022 she received her German citizenship.
In 2021, Yusra carried the flag of the Refugee Olympic Team into the Opening Ceremonies for the Tokyo Olympic Games. This year, Yusra and sister Sara were named to TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World List for 2023.
Yusra made the announcement on social media, saying:
“Swimming has given me so much, it has given me stability in my toughest times, it has given me strength through the life lessons that I have learnt, it taught me determination and discipline, and most importantly it has given me friendships that I will cherish for life. Swimming has been a home to me when I didn’t have a home, to this day I am thankful that swimming has now given me a way to help refugees around the world.
"When I was nine years old, I had a dream of competing in the Olympics so I practised nonstop and was determined that one day I would succeed. My desire was distant from reality in 2011 as my country was at war, but I never stopped dreaming because I was and still am so passionate about swimming.
"My sister and I decided to leave Syria in order to find safety in Germany in 2015. It may sound crazy but my first priority upon arriving in Germany was to find a swimming pool so I could resume my training. A few months later, the introduction of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team allowed me to compete as a member of the first-ever Olympic Refugee Team, fulfilling my dream and forever changing my life.”