Join an African Olympics Team and Then Disappear Into Europe During Olympic Games

Many of the African athletes who participated in the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games last summer did not bother to return home, instead disappearing into France and Belgium.

There is speculation that dozens of such cases occurred after the games, with many of them refusing to join their delegations back home.

Among the athletes who remained in Europe is 24-year-old Aristote Ndombe Impelenga, the Congolese swimmer, who specializes in the 50m crawl. He is living in western France and reportedly wants to compete in the Los Angeles Olympic Games as a part of the Olympic refugee team.

The athlete, who is the former DRC champion in the 50m crawl and 100m crawl, is openly staying in Rennes, where he is currently training Monday through Friday.

“I met a Congolese man at the Gare du Nord (in Paris). He told me about the city of Rennes, and said, ‘There, you’ll find enough modernized facilities to continue your sporting career.’”

The athlete said that he refused asylum seeker benefits and that resulted in him being forced onto the streets.

“At first,” he said “I found myself on the streets like a homeless person. I even ended up in tents.”

Some citizens living in Rennes “came to his aid,” according to French media outlet RFI. In addition, a French lawyer Félix Jeanmougin, who also works in the sports industry, got him on social welfare for asylum seekers. The paper described it as a “sign of hope.”

The swimmer is now at the Paul-Bert swimming club in Rennes. The facility is known for its “modern” design and is substantially better than anything in the Congo, which apparently does not have a single Olympic-sized pool in the entire country.

“Swimming in the Congo wasn’t modernized enough because there wasn’t an Olympic-sized pool,” Aristote Ndombe said. We trained in a private 33-meter pool; it was really complicated.”

Apparently, he also abandoned his son to train for the Olympics in France.

“The only person I miss is my son,” he said. Otherwise, he said he is not homesick at all. He refused to elaborate further on his past life to RFI.

He now wants to obtain refugee status in France; however, there is no indication that he was fleeing war.

It is unclear whether his claim will go through; the process will take at least six months to a year.

It may also set a precedent. if approved, other athletes from Africa and the Middle East may simply decide to stay in European countries with the expectation that their asylum application will be approved.