Brazilian Artists Pay Tribute To Olympic Refugee Team In Stunning Murals

"They are the true winners," graffiti artist Rodrigo Sini says.

Two Brazilian graffiti artists — Rodrigo Sini and Cety Soledade — have decided to pay tribute to the Olympic refugee team by painting large-scale portraits of the athletes in Rio de Janeiro’s Porto Maravilha district.

Competing in the 2016 Olympic Games are 10 refugees — two Syrian swimmers, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and six runners from Ethiopia and South Sudan. The athletes currently reside in such countries as Germany, Belgium and Kenya, as well as the Olympic host nation of Brazil.

“For me they are the true winners thanks to their spirit, determination and courage to leave their war-torn countries and start new lives somewhere else,” street artist Rodrigo Sini, who has previously used graffiti to draw attention to racism in Brazil, told the news agency Agência Brasil.

The stunning murals are located in the Porto Maravilha Arts Corridor, a platform for urban art that opened on Aug. 16.

The project brings together the work of more than 20 Brazilian artists, with a vision for urban revitalization.

Scroll down for more portraits of the refugee team:

A version of this piece originally appeared on HuffPost Brazil. It has been translated into English and edited for a U.S. audience.

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