Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – As the Tokyo Olympics wrapped up at the weekend, 120 boys from 12 different camps excitedly gathered late Saturday for their own version of the Games in Syria’s last major rebel bastion of Idlib.
Each wearing the colour of their camp, it was their turn to be the star athletes on a running track and soccer pitch etched in the red earth besides the tent settlement of Yaman near Idlib city.
Among the participants at the “Tent Olympics 2020”, Walid Mohammed al-Hassan, 12, was delighted to have represented his camp in the long jump.
“We had such fun,” he said, three fellow team mates huddled around him with their arms draped over his shoulders.
“I won second place in the long jump,” he said, grinning from ear to ear in his team’s uniform of white head band and blue vest.
Also on the programme were javelin, discus, high jump, hurdles, gymnastics, martial arts, volleyball, badminton, football, running and even “horse racing”.
