Resilience is the capacity that allows some people to bounce back after being knocked down by life. Instead of becoming a victim of adversity, they find a way to come back from the ashes. Yusra Mardini, an 18-year-old Syrian woman swimmer, who just won the opening heat of the 100m butterfly at the Rio Olympic Games, is the perfect illustration of resilience.
In the summer of 2015 Yusra and her sister Sarah had fled their home in Damascus until they reached Izmir in Turkey via Beirut and Istanbul. After paying smugglers in Izmir, they were able to find room in a dinghy about to cross the Mediterranean into Greece.
Olympic refugee team member Yusra Mardini practices diving at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium ahead of the Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 28, 2016. Having Fled war-torn Syrian, Mardini is one of ten athletes on the first ever refugee team. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
