The Iranian refugee athlete Hadi Tiranvalipour, who has overcome many challenges, faced immense disappointment when his dream of winning an Olympic medal was interrupted during the taekwondo qualifiers at the Paris Games. The 26-year-old athlete competed against Palestinian Omar Ismail in the under-58 kg category but lost 2–0 in a one-sided match held at the luxurious Grand Palais on the first day of the taekwondo events.
Post-Match Interview
“I am disappointed with my performance; I don’t know what went wrong,” he said. “I hoped to achieve a good result, but now that seems out of reach.”
Before becoming 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 2015 Junior Asian Championships. 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 couch in shared accommodation, with the help of Iranian students.
Be Kind
“Our journey is very difficult,” he said after his defeat to Ismail. “It’s not just a challenge for me, but for all refugee athletes. It is extremely hard for each of us to be here.”
The athletes on 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 round of 16 in two rounds against Guo Qing from China in the women's under-49 kg category.
Langeroudi’s quest for a medal is not over yet, as she entered a repechage that will be held later. The taekwondo tournaments at the Olympics award two bronze medals, with the defeated semifinalists competing against two competitors who were defeated by the finalists in the elimination round.
The stories of these athletes are filled with challenges and perseverance. They face not only the pressures of competition but also the many hardships of life.
