By Marc Raimondi

Yusra Mardini is still making news and doing good.

One of the darlings of the 2016 Rio Olympics was honored last week at the first Global Goals Awards in New York City, according to the Washington Post. Mardini was given the Girl Award for her work in bringing worldwide awareness to refugees and the issues facing them.

Mardini, 18, fled Syria with her sister in 2015 for Germany, saving fellow refugees in the process. She competed for the 10-athlete refugees team at the Olympics. Mardini did not medal, but she certainly made her mark.

Mardini’s boat broke down in the Mediterranean Sea on the way to Europe last year. When it stalled, Mardini, her sister and two others jumped into the water and were able to push the boat for three hours until it reached Greece. The boat, a dinghy, contained 18 people when it was really only supposed to have six or seven.

The story made big news during the Olympics and Mardini has become something of a spokeswoman for refugees around the world.

“It is not a choice to flee your home,” she told a U.N. summit on migrants and refugees last week, “and refugees can achieve anything.”

The Global Goals Awards honor leaders in the rights of women and girls. The ceremony was organized by UNICEF, a children’s humanitarian program run by the United Nations.

“Competing at the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a young girl,” Mardini said at the U.N. summit. “Twelve months ago, I had to leave my home of Syria during the war and I no longer thought this would be possible for me.

“This experience has also given me a voice and an opportunity to be heard. For me, I want to help change people’s perceptions of what a refugee, for everyone to understand that it is not a choice to flee from your home and that refugees are normal people who can achieve great things if given the opportunity.”

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