Olympic Channel Rolls Out Original Series Taking Refuge

Taking Refuge, a new Olympic Channel original series, follows Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani as he leads three refugees on a journey to qualify for the  Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in his own event, 10-meter air rifle shooting.

The five-episode series sees Campriani call upon the mental and physical skills he has honed as a professional athlete to coach and mentor Mahdi, Khaoula and Luna. Taking Refuge premieres today (June 15) on the IOC’s global media platform, which is available subscription-free at olympicchannel.com and via its apps for mobile, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and the Roku platform.

Campriani was inspired by the small refugee team at Rio 2016 to lead the next generation of refugee athletes. For more than a year, he invested his time and resources to help these individuals and bring the project to fruition. Many in his personal network, the shooting community and former sponsors have supported his effort by donating the needed equipment, including air rifles, uniforms and electronic targets. Further, together with five-time Olympian and Beijing 2008 shooting gold medallist from India Abhinav Bindra, Campriani co-created the “Make A Mark” project.

Taking Refuge was produced exclusively for the Olympic Channel by Vice Media. Production is currently on hiatus until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Campriani said: “Sport is made of stories, not medals. Some of them are legendary, some are drama, and some others don’t have the happy ending that one would expect. Taking Refuge is a story of hope, a story that combines the sporting challenge of qualifying for the Olympic Games in less than 1,000 days with the inspirational determination of a group of refugees.”

Bindra said: “The story of Mahdi, Khaoula and Luna is a resounding proclamation to the world that sport has the power to bring about change. As their documentary Taking Refuge launches, Nicco and I are already thinking ahead with the launch of the project “Make A Mark” as an extension of the work we have put in. We aim to see more Olympic champions get involved and future mentors to take this legacy forward!”