Among these athletes are volleyball star Wilfredo Leon from Cuba, high jumper Maryia Zhodzik from Belarus, and sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, also from Belarus.
Wilfredo Leon, the most prominent of these athletes, was born nearly 31 years ago in Cuba where he started his volleyball career, becoming the national team captain at 17. After unsuccessful Olympic qualifiers in 2012, he followed his fiancée - and now wife, Małgorzata - to Poland.
Leon gained Polish citizenship in 2015 and, after a mandatory four-year wait, joined the Polish national team.
Last year, he led Poland to a European Championship victory and is now eyeing an Olympic medal in Paris.
Wilfredo Leon. Photo: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki
Zhodzik, a 27-year-old high jumper, has been in Poland since 2022, finding a second home in the northeastern city of Białystok, to train under the watchful eye of coach Robert Nazarkiewicz.
She received Polish citizenship in March this year through a presidential decree and has been competing for Poland since June 20, following a three-year hiatus from representing Belarus.
Maryia Zhodzik. Photo: PAP/Tytus Żmijewski
After becoming a Polish citizen, Maryia Zhodzik is now known as Maria Żodzik. Photo: PAP/Krzysztof Świderski
Tsimanouskaya became known internationally during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, when she criticized her national team's coaching staff and refused to participate further, leading to a forced departure attempt by her team officials.
She escaped and sought asylum at the Polish embassy in Tokyo. Now residing in Warsaw, Tsimanouskaya represented Poland at the World Championships in Budapest last year, and described it as the greatest success of her career.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya during a news conference in Warsaw in August 2021. Photo: Alexei Pantsikov/TASS via PAP
Photo: PAP/Marcin Bielecki
Other notable athletes include Ben Hlima from Tunisia, who will compete in the 20 km racewalk and the mixed relay in Paris, and Anhelina Lysak, a wrestler from Ukraine with Polish heritage, now living in Warsaw.
Ben Hlima. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa
Anhelina Lysak. Photo: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC
Sandra Sysojeva, a dressage rider from Lithuania, has been competing in Poland for six years and recently decided to officially represent the country.
As the world turns its eyes to Paris, these athletes prepare to not just compete but also to showcase their new homeland on the Olympic stage.
The Games opened on Friday with a ceremony on the Seine and will conclude with the final medal handed out on August 11.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP
