Popole Misenga (born 25 February 1992) is a judoka originally from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, who was selected by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil.

Personal life

Misenga was born on 25 February 1992. He is from the

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an area severely affected by the Second Congo War. After his mother was murdered when he was nine years old, he fled to a nearby rainforest and wandered for a week, before being rescued and taken to a home in Kinshasa. He sought

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

after travelling there to compete in the

2013 World Judo Championships The 2013 World Judo Championships were held at the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 26 August to 1 September. Schedule ''All times are local ( UTC−3).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events R ...

along with fellow judoka

Yolande Mabika Yolande Bukasa Mabika (born 8 September 1987) is a Congolese-born Brazilian judoka who was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She co ...

. The pair claimed that their coaches confined them in their hotel room while leaving with their money, passports and meal tickets. After two days barely eating, Mabika escaped, and Misenga waited more days only for the staff to arrive on the day of the competition, smelling of alcohol. The following day, Mabika returned to the hotel and convinced Misenga to desert, and both were taken by an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n to the African immigrant-heavy neighborhood of Brás de Pina. They also stated that back in Africa, their judo coaches deprived them of food and locked them in cages when they did not perform well. The

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) officially granted him refugee status in September 2014. He is now married to a Brazilian woman, with whom he has two children.

Judo

Misenga first took up judo at a centre for displaced children in Kinshasa. In 2010 he won a bronze medal at the African under-20 Judo Championships. At the

held in Brazil he was eliminated in the first round of his competition after losing to

Islam Bozbayev Islam Bozbayev (born 11 June 1991 in Temirtau) is a Kazakh judoka who won the bronze medal in the men's under 81 kg class at the 2010 Asian Games. He competed in the same division at the 2012 Summer Olympics. References External link ...

of Kazakhstan. Following this tournament he sought asylum in Brazil and remained in the country. In Brazil he started training at the Instituto Reação, a judo school founded by Olympic bronze medallist

Flávio Canto Flávio Vianna de Ulhôa Canto (born April 16, 1975 in Oxford, England) is a Brazilian judoka who competed in Men's 81 kg Judo. He won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is founder and president of the Instituto Reação, an ...

, and now trains under coach Geraldo Bernardes in Rio de Janeiro. Before being taken by Reação, Misenga had odd jobs at truck crews. He received support and funding from the IOC's Olympic Solidarity programme. On 3 June 2016 the IOC announced that Misenga would be part of a team of ten athletes selected to compete as part of a Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the men's 90 kg event, Misenga won his first bout against Avtar Singh of India, but lost against South Korea's

Gwak Dong-han Gwak Dong-han (Hangul: 곽동한; ; born 20 April 1992) is a South Korean judoka. He won the gold medal in the 90 kg event at the 2015 World Judo Championships. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world (as of 8 February 2016). He was his coa ...

. Misenga has continued to practice judo, taking part in events such as the

2019 World Judo Championships The 2019 World Judo Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Schedule ''All times are local (Japan Standard Time, UTC+9).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Mixed events Prize m ...

and a second Olympic appearance as part of the Refugee Olympic Team in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo, Japan. He has however noted that his amount of competitions is limited by how

travel visa A visa (from the Latin ''charta visa'', meaning "paper that has been seen") is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on ...

s are denied to refugees.Refugiado congolês que vive no Rio de Janeiro perde nas Olimpíadas; conheça o judoca Popole Misenga
G1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Misenga, Popole Living people 1992 births People from Bukavu Democratic Republic of the Congo male judoka Expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriates in Brazil