Yolande Bukasa Mabika (born 8 September 1987) is a Congolese-born Brazilian
judoka
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
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
The Refugee Olympic Team is a group made up of independent Olympic participants who are refugees. In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a s ...
at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
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 b ...
, Brazil. She competed in the
women's 70 kg event, losing her first round match against Israeli
Linda Bolder
Linda Bolder (Hebrew: לינדה בולדר, born 3 July 1988 in Velserbroek, Netherlands) is a Dutch-born Israeli Olympic judoka.
A three-time European age-group judo champion as a junior, two-time Dutch senior women's champion, and silver m ...
.
Personal life
Mabika was born on 8 September 1987.
She 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 pr ...
area of 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 ...
, an area severely affected by the
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
.
During the conflict she was separated from her parents and was taken to a children's home in the capital
Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
.
There she took up judo, a sport the Congolese government advocated for orphans to take as an ideal way to seek some structure.
She 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 enti ...
in Brazil after travelling there to compete in the
2013 World Judo Championships along with fellow judoka
Popole Misenga
Popole Misenga (born 25 February 1992) is a judoka originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio d ...
.
The coaches confiscated their money and passports and left them confined in their hotel rooms. After two days barely eating, Mabika escaped the team hotel and went looking for help on the streets.
Two days of wandering later, she found a community of Congolese immigrants in the
Brás de Pina
Brás de Pina is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, 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 ...
neighborhood, and the next day went to the hotel to get Misenga.
[ The pair claimed that 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 her refugee status in September 2014. She lives in various homes in a ''favela
Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...
'' of the Cordovil
Cordovil is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, 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 ...
neighborhood.[
]
Judo
In 2013, she qualified for the World Judo Championships
The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place) by the International Judo ...
held in Brazil. However, she never competed in the competition, leaving to find help, eventually seeking asylum and remaining in the country. In Brazil she 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 joining Reação in 2015, Mabika even slept on the street, and worked as a sweeper and at a textile mill. She received support and funding from the IOC's Olympic Solidarity programme.
On 3 June 2016 the IOC announced that Mabika would be part of a team of ten athletes selected to compete as part of a Refugee Olympic Team
The Refugee Olympic Team is a group made up of independent Olympic participants who are refugees. In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a s ...
at the 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She competed in the women's 70 kg event. She lost her first round match against Israeli Linda Bolder
Linda Bolder (Hebrew: לינדה בולדר, born 3 July 1988 in Velserbroek, Netherlands) is a Dutch-born Israeli Olympic judoka.
A three-time European age-group judo champion as a junior, two-time Dutch senior women's champion, and silver m ...
on August 10, subjected to a choke hold just over a minute into the bout,.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabika, Yolande
1987 births
Living people
People from Bukavu
Democratic Republic of the Congo female judoka
Expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriates in Brazil