Dreams Shattered: The Olympic Journey of Iranian Refugee Taekwondo Athlete Hadi Tiranvalipour
Iranian refugee athlete Hadi Tiranvalipour, who has overcome many challenges, faced immense disappointment when his dream of winning an Olympic medal was cut short during the taekwondo qualification bout at the Paris Games. The 26-year-old Tiranvalipour competed against Palestinian Omar Ismail in the men’s under 58-kilogram category but lost 2–0 in a one-sided match held at the lavish Grand Palais venue on the first day of taekwondo events.
“I’m not satisfied with my performance; I don’t have an explanation for this,” he said. “I wanted a good result, but it seems impossible now.”
Before becoming a part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, Tiranvalipour spent eight years competing with the Iranian national team, where he achieved significant success, including winning a gold medal at the Asian Junior Championship in 2015. However, after speaking out in favor of women’s rights, he lost his job and was forced to leave Iran. In October 2022, he traveled to Turkey and then to Italy, where he lived in a forest for 10 days and later spent three months on a sofa in shared accommodation, with the help of Iranian students.
“Our journey is too difficult,” he said after his loss to Ismail. “Not just for me, but for all refugee athletes. It’s extremely difficult for each of us to be here.”
Athletes from the refugee team compete under the same flag and come from various parts of the world. The team was created for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 as a symbol of hope and to draw attention to the plight of refugees worldwide. Another taekwondo specialist from the team, Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi, also competed at the Grand Palais, losing in the last 16 in two rounds against Guo Qing of China in the women’s under 49-kilogram category.
Langeroudi’s bid for a medal is not over yet, as she entered a repechage to be held later. Taekwondo tournaments at the Olympics award two bronze medals, with the losing semifinalists competing against two contestants who were defeated by the finalists in the elimination phase.
These athletes’ stories are filled with challenges and perseverance. They face not only the pressures of competition but also the many difficulties of life.
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