14 Iranian Refugees’ Inspiring Journey to Paris Olympics
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, a team of 36 refugee athletes will compete under the Olympic flag, representing over 100 million refugees worldwide. Among them are 14 Iranian athletes, each with their own unique story of resilience and hope.
Iran will have two delegations at the Paris Olympics: one from Iran itself, consisting of 40 athletes, and a smaller one, the refugee team, which includes 14 Iranians. Five members of this team are from Afghanistan, meaning that over half of the team is made up of Persian speakers.
According to Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, these 36 athletes were selected from over 70 refugee athletes who applied to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“We hereby send a message of hope to over 100 million refugees worldwide while simultaneously drawing the attention of billions of people to the growing refugee crisis.”
-Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee
Olympic Athletes Living in Refugee Camps
Two athletes from the refugee team are still living in refugee camps. Perina Lokure Nakang, a middle-distance runner from South Sudan, resides in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Yahya Al Ghotany, a taekwondo competitor who fled the Syrian war, lives in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Yahya will also serve as the flag bearer for the refugee team during the opening ceremony.
“We secretly had to use the Brazilian team’s ice bath…”
Among the Iranian athletes in the refugee team, Omid Ahmadisafa (boxing), Matin Balsini (swimming), and others have chosen migration over staying in Iran due to poor conditions and lack of proper care by officials. Matin Balsini, who emerged as a new phenomenon in the Tokyo Olympics, managed to improve Iran’s swimming record eight times in a few months and repeated it once more in the Olympics. However, he criticized the facilities of the Iranian national team in the Olympics, revealing that he had to secretly use the Brazilian ice bath in Tokyo due to the lack of one for his team.
Recalling his experience, Matin shares:
“It cannot be said that swimming is getting little attention. In fact, it gets no attention at all. On the day of my competition, when I woke up, I had severe leg pain and my leg had severe spasms. We didn’t have a masseur with the team. The night before the competition, we secretly used the Brazilian team’s ice bath with the federation president because we don’t have such facilities ourselves.”
-Matin Balsini
Making History with Women’s Weightlifting
Yekta Jamali, a weightlifter, will have the chance to make history at the Olympics. She turned to weightlifting at the age of 13 and quickly made her way into the Iranian national team. In 2021, she won the bronze medal at the World Youth Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, marking the first world medal for Iranian women’s weightlifting. However, due to harsh conditions and pressures in Iran, she decided to flee and sought asylum in Germany in 2022 during the World Youth Championships in Greece.
Yekta recalls this life changing moment:
“My life has always been like the saying: ‘Do the thing you fear.’ When I decided to come to Germany, I was scared, but I did it anyway.”
-Yekta Jamali
Hopes and Challenges of Taekwondo Athletes
The refugee team includes three Iranian taekwondo representatives. Dina Pouryounes, who lives in the Netherlands and participated in the Tokyo Olympics, will experience the Olympics for the second time. Kasra Mehdipournejad, who was the flag bearer of the refugee taekwondo team at the World Championships in Poland, will compete in this Olympics. He has been living as a refugee in Berlin, Germany since 2017 and has won three gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in various European competitions over the past five years.
Hadi Tiran Valipour, another taekwondo athlete, has overcome difficult days to reach the Olympics. He spent the first ten days of his asylum in Italy living in a forest. For Valipour, serving as a role model for refugees worldwide is as important as reaching the Olympics.
He says,
“A refugee athlete is in no way like a regular athlete. They have a really hard life, and we are far from our families. I want to be at the Olympics to represent 120 million people. I know that life is very difficult for refugees and displaced people, so I want to be a good example. We don’t have a flag, but we have 120 million people behind us, so we have to represent all of them. If you have a dream, you must continue. It is our duty to tell them that.”
-Hadi Tiran Valipour
Inspiring Journeys From Iran to the Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature Iranian athletes in various sports, including badminton, rowing, judo, wrestling, and boxing, as part of the refugee team. Dorsa Yavarivafa, the only Iranian representative in badminton, started playing at the age of 10 and had to endure imprisonment three times while migrating to Germany with her mother using fake passports.
The refugee team also includes three Iranian rowers: Saeid Fazlollah, Amir Rezanjhad, and Saman Sultani. Fazlollah, who lives in Germany, will be participating in the Olympics for the second time. Rezanjhad, also a refugee in Germany, will be experiencing the Olympics for the first time. Sultani, who lives in Austria, has been training tirelessly to perform his best in Paris and hopes to continue rowing until he is 40.
In judo, the refugee team includes Mahboubeh Barbari Zharfi, a single mother living in Germany, and Mohammad Rashnonezhad, who lives in the Netherlands. Rashnonezhad broke taboos by competing against an Israeli athlete in the European Cup, aiming to promote peace and friendship.
In wrestling, Jamal Valizadeh and Iman Mahdavi are representing the refugee team. Valizadeh, who initially played handball, turned to wrestling on his family’s suggestion. He endured a difficult journey to France, including swimming in cold water when his boat started taking in water. Mahdavi sought refuge in Italy in 2020 and began his training at the Seggiano wrestling club.
In boxing, Omid Ahmadisafa, who lives in Germany, will be representing the refugee team. He started boxing after getting into fights with his peers in his neighborhood and now aims to show the world that it’s possible to rise from a difficult life to the highest levels of success.
This is a summary of original Radio Zamaneh content crafted with the help of AI, edited by a Radio Zamaneh editor. To read the original article, click here.
