Olympic Champion's Project Producing Results

(ATR) When Afghan sport shooter Mahdi Yovari steps to the range at the Tokyo Games, he will be toting the air rifle and tripod of three-time Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani, symbolic of their mutual accomplishment.

Yovari, 24, has been mentored and coached by Campriani as part of Make a Mark, a project founded by the retired Italian Olympic champion in 2019 aiming to locate, introduce and develop refugees and forcibly displaced people in high-level, competitive sport.

Make a Mark seeks to provide not only hope and opportunity for the less fortunate athletes, but also the necessary tools and equipment, while maximizing limited resources.

"I needed air rifles – I had two and then I selected three athletes so I had to send a very embarrassing email to the Olympic Museum asking for my rifle back," Campriani said. "At the time of the postponement, they sent me another email asking do I need it one more year, I was like ‘yes, I need it one more year’".

With the project still being developed, it is this "do whatever it takes" mentality to enable the athletes to succeed. The work put in thus far by Campriani has led to some extremely rewarding moments.

"With Mahdi, I had the chance to tell him he was going to the Games – it was one of the most beautiful moments in my entire sport career," said Campriani, who won a gold medal at London 2012 and two more at Rio 2016..

"When I left Iran I could not choose my destination," said Yovari, an Afghan national raised in Iran. "But now, through the Make a Mark project, I have been able to control my path towards my goal, the Olympic Games, where I will proudly represent my native country, Afghanistan.

"I have dreamt of the Games every day since being selected for this project and it feels incredible for this dream to have now become my reality," he said.

Joining Yovari in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Asaki Shooting Range in Tokyo will be fellow Make a Mark sport shooter Luna Solomon. Solomon, 27, has qualified and will represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at next month’s Games. She will be one of 29 refugee athletes across 12 sports competing under the IOC flag, the concept initiated at Rio 2016.

Yovari and Solomon will also proudly represent the first class of Make a Mark athletes to compete at an Olympic Games, a milestone especially impressive considering that the program and their endeavors began with less than 500 days until the Games, fully supported by Campriani and the initiative.

"It is almost impossible to put into words how joining the Olympic Refugee Team feels," Solomon said. "To get to this moment has required a lot of hard work and training, but every second has been filled with self-discovery, learning and laughter."

Luna initially arrived in Switzerland in 2015, where Campriani is based and now runs the program, after being forced to flee war-torn Eritrea due to widespread human rights atrocities.

Future Olympians Yovari and Solomon, as well as a third competitor, Khaoula Sellami, from Palestine, have all trained and honed their new craft at facilities in Lausanne under the tutelage of Campriani, who also works in the IOC’s sport department.

Campriani informed that his refugee athletes have achieved the minimum Olympic qualifying scores and as a result have become eligible to benefit from the Olympic Solidarity program.

"Once they fully qualify as athletes then there is that support of Olympic Solidarity – until then we rely completely on fundraising and donations," Campriani said.

A new leader for Make a Mark’s Future

Moving beyond Tokyo, Campriani is entrusting the leadership of the project to Olympic archery champion Juan Carlos Holgado, who won team gold with his native Spain at Barcelona 1992. Holgado will assist the next class of Make a Mark refugee athletes to target Olympic qualification in archery for Paris 2024.

"Ideally, I wanted to inspire other Olympians to take the baton and do the same thing, giving back specifically to the refugee community and why not train other refugees for Paris 2024," Campriani explained.

"When you told me you were thinking about the legacy (of the program), I felt more or less obliged because I share your spirit," Holgado says, addressing Campriani.

"Not everybody has this opportunity to win a medal and especially in difficult situations of people forced to move around countries, escaping from war, escaping from difficult situations - refugees are something that is not only sensitive, but we have to do our part to help.

"There are talented athletes in difficult situations, but they also have Olympic dreams," said the Spanish Olympic champion.

Campriani and Holgado envision expanding Mark a Mark to additional sports with a greater alliance of Olympic champions and refugee athlete mentors in the future.

"Winter Games is a very interesting focus for us as well – we’ve never had an Olympic refugee team in winter," Campriani said. "We may not be in time for Beijing, but we can give it a try for Milano-Cortina 2026.

"The most important thing before Tokyo was to send a message that the project is open to other sports, other Olympic champions – it doesn’t necessarily have to be shooting sport and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an Italian."

Campriani says Make a Mark has provided him with a valuable sense of accomplishment and a healthy new direction following his retirement after Rio 2016.

"For me to be associated with this project, it was a great way to move on to the next part of my life and give meaning to those medals," Campriani said.

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli

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