“He was someone who stood up and said ‘no.’ To have that sort of strength was something that inspired me,” says Adnan Khankan ahead of his Olympic judo debut in Paris later this month. Ed Kolenovsky/APConscription into the Syrian Army“I didn’t see it as my war, how could it be when it was Syrian people killing other Syrian people? The Syrian Civil War, which initially broke out in 2011, is now considered the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP“It really motivated me when I found out about the existence of a refugee team,” said Khankan. Adnan Khankan“The refugee team speak different languages, are different ethnicities, come from different cultures, but we are all one team competing together.

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Persons: CNN — It’s, Muhammad Ali, Brown, ”, Ali, Adnan Khankan, Khankan, Bashar al, spiralled, ” Khankan, Ed Kolenovsky, Bashar Al, Assad, Diaa Al, “, ” Adnan Khankan, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Mardini, Yusra Mardini, Michael Kappeler, Marius Vizer, Adnan, “ Adnan, Vizer, Adnan Khankan “, I’ve Organizations: CNN, International Olympic Committee, Syrian Army, CNN Sport, Al, Free Syrian Army, Reuters, taekwondo, Getty, Rio Olympics, IOC, Rio, Tokyo, Japan, Judo, International Judo Federation, UNHCR, “, Olympic Locations: Vietnam, America, Paris, Cologne, Germany, Damascus, Syria, Houston, Arbeen, Ghouta, Tashkent, AFP, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungarian, Cairo, Tokyo, Europe, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, East, Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba