From Comoros Islands, An Olympian Clears Hurdles On And Off The Track [NRP.org]

Samantha Sangenito 8/15/164:00 AM

For all the superstar athletes at the Rio Olympics — the ones with cushy endorsement deals and worldwide fame — there are many more who never find the limelight, who will never even come close to getting a medal.

They compete for the sheer honor of it. For national pride. And for reasons all their own.

Among that group is a hurdler with a remarkable backstory.

I happened to find Maoulida Daroueche at the Olympic athletes village. He was wearing a green and white track suit with "Comoros" in red letters across the back, and we got to talking in English and French.

"Each athlete has his own story," he told me. "So this is my story. Voilà!"

Daroueche is one of just four athletes competing in Rio from the Comoros, a tiny Indian Ocean archipelago off the southeast coast of Africa.

[For more of this story, written by Melissa Block, go to http://www.npr.org/sections/th...on-and-off-the-track]

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