MISENGA Popole

General
EARLY DAYS
He lives in Brazil, but was born in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was affected by civil war when he was a child. His mother was killed when he was age nine and he spent a week alone in the rainforest before being rescued and taken to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he spent time living in a United Nations refugee camp. He and fellow judoka Yolande Bukasa Mabika sought asylum in Brazil after the 2013 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was separated from his two brothers after his mother died, but was able to speak to one of his brothers by phone almost 15 years later. "I wondered sometimes how to live when so many people were dying. I have seen too much war, too much death. I do not want to get into that. I want to stay clean so I can do my sport." (olympic.org, 03 Jun 2016; theguardian.com, 07 Jan 2016; sbnation.com, 10 Aug 2016; indianexpress.com, 06 Jul 2017; news.trust.org, 30 Jul 2016; edition.cnn.com, 23 Aug 2017)

RIO EXPERIENCE
He competed as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I was very happy when I found out I was selected for the IOC Refugee [Olympic] Team [for the 2016 Games]. It meant a lot for me, to be able to represent all the refugees in the world on the international sports platform. It gives me strength on the tatami representing the millions of persons who had to leave their home and country. It's an honour to be in the Olympics. I'm just really happy to be here because everybody understands and knows about the refugee team, knows the refugee story. I can't explain how happy I am. I never dreamed about competing in judo again, and I came back in the world's most famous competition. The Olympics made me famous. People recognised me in the street. They'd say, 'It's that guy in the Olympics!'" (theguardian.com, 10 Aug 2016; sbnation.com, 10 Aug 2016; ijf.org, 12 May 2019)