Fri May 18, 2012
Jimena Florit
Olympic Athlete Faces a New Goal: Stopping the Genocide in Darfur
By Jimena Florit, Argentina – May 2008
Coming from Argentina, I have a pretty good understanding of what it is like to live in fear. Our history is full of long periods of military dictatorships during which acts of terrorism against perceived opponents of the government caused tens of thousands of people to become political prisoners, many thousands to be executed and over 20,000 to just disappear – never to be heard from again.
Even today, many people seeking closure are fighting for justice. Time has not healed their pain. Random violence, lack of freedom, and physical and mental abuse has been carved into our cultural soul – families have been broken, dreams of a bright future have been dashed and too many lives have been ruined.
As an Olympic athlete, I feel I have been granted a special opportunity to help create change in the world. My visibility enables me to generate awareness about things I care deeply about – and I feel deeply about wanting to stop the genocide and human rights abuses that are happening in on Darfur.
Like many people from my country who have suffered fear, violence and loss of loved ones, the innocent people from Darfur have suffered unspeakable violence that continues to be carried out against them every single day even as the people around the world turn their heads away.
We must stop ignoring this situation. These people desperately need us to represent them. Because their screams of pain, horror and abuse are not being heard by the world community, more of us need to be their voice and scream that violations against their human rights must stop.
As a new mother of two six-month old twins I feel a special desire to protect the innocent. I cannot not imagine the pain a mother feels when armed men on horseback rip her child away from her loving arms – never to be seen again. But this is a common reality for many mothers from Darfur.
As a member of Team Darfur I want to demonstrate my support for the innocent people from Darfur and show that I am standing up for their right to live with dignity. I am opposed to any violation of human rights and I will not turn my head way.
Jimena Florit represented Argentina twice in the Olympics (2000 and 2004). She won a Gold Medal in the Pan American in 2003 (Dominican Republic) a Bronze Medal in 1999 (Winnipeg Canada), a Bronze Medal in Mar del Plata (Argentina) and a Gold mMedal in the South American Juegos Odesur in 2006 (Argentina) You can find more information on Jimena at – www.jimenacycling.com; and for more information on Team Darfur you can go to www.Teamdarfur.org
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