OlderYusra Mardini Swam for Her Life Before Becoming an Olympian!
Yusra Mardini has an incredibly heroic story from being a Syrian refugee to becoming an Olympian and competing at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
The 18-year-old swimmer had to swim for her life while escaping from Syria last year with a group of 20 people. She was in a boat when the motor stopped and ahe and her sister were among the only passengers who knew how to swim. The girls jumped out of the boat and spent three hours pushing it to shore.
“I will die anyway,” Yusra says she told herself when making the life-changing decision (via NBC News). “I had to try.”
Yusra now lives in a refugee camp in Berlin, Germany and she will be competing in the women’s freestyle event on Wednesday. During the women’s 100m butterfly event on Saturday (August 6), she placed in 41st place.
