Refugee athlete who saved 20 lives by pushing boat for 3 hours wins swimming heat at Rio Olympics

There are dozens of amazing teenage athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, but nobody has a story like swimmer Yusra Mardini, who is competing under the International Olympic Committee flag as part of the refugee team.

Many people have their lives thanks to the efforts of Mardini and her sister just over a year ago. The sisters were fleeing Syria along with 18 other people when the refugees’ dinghy began sinking in the Aegean sea during a trip to Greece. The motor had failed, nobody on the boat could swim except the sisters. It’s a story that often ends in tragedy, but they ensured that didn’t happen. The two women leaped out of the boat, into cold waters and pushed the boat three hours in open water to prevent it from capsizing -- eventually making it to land. It was a move that not only saved the lives of the 18 people in the boat, but ensured the sisters lived.

It sounds like a horror story, but instead Mardini used the moment in her life for motivation.