The Olympic Channel has launched a new series in which it invites Olympic athletes to experience the impact of sport on the lives of refugees as they visit refugee camps and areas for the displaced across the world.

Each of "Camps to Champs" four episodes focuses on one location and is told through the eyes of an Olympian who demonstrates the impact of outreach programmes and grassroots sports activities.

In the first episode, London 2012 silver medallist and modern pentathlete Samantha Murray of Great Britain meets Syrian refugees at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, and discovers how they find solace in sports such as table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling and football.

In the second episode, Olympic silver medallist in freestyle skiing and US Ski Team’s Gus Kenworthy visits Uganda’s Nakivale camp, where he spends time with a group of long-distance runners whose sport unites them; visits a DIY gym with home-made weightlifting equipment; and plays basketball with a talented refugee who dreams of someday playing professionally.

In the third instalment, Sizwe Ndlovu, an Olympic gold medallist rower from South Africa, visits a makeshift badminton club; learns how judo is helping one family recover; and meets Syrian refugee Ibrahim Al-Hussien, who competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in swimming for the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT).

In the fourth and last episode, the two-time Olympic medallist, synchronised swimmer Thaïs Henríquez of Spain, meets Colombians who have been internally displaced by the long-running civil war, and discovers how sports such as football, sitting volleyball and boxing are instrumental in providing new opportunities for a fresh outlook on life.

The series is available here.

From Olympic Channel