Iran’s only Olympic medalist training in Dutch city after defecting, coach says
Taekwondo player Kimia Alizadeh criticizes Iranian political system for ‘hypocrisy,’ ‘lying,’ in Instagram post; hasn’t decided which country she’ll compete for in upcoming games
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Iran’s only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh is in the Dutch city of Eindhoven where the taekwondo athlete is training for this year’s Tokyo Olympics after permanently leaving her country, her new coach confirmed on Monday.
Alizadeh, 21, who announced her defection on Instagram over the weekend “has been training with us since December 18,” Mimoun El Boujjoufi said.
“She arrived in the Netherlands on a visa accompanied by her husband,” Boujjoufi, a taekwondo coach in the southern Dutch city, told AFP.
Alizadeh won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, drawing praise from her compatriots including Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and even conservatives in the Islamic Republic.
In keeping with Iran’s strict Muslim custom, Alizadeh, then 18, competed wearing a headscarf over her taekwondo uniform and protective gear.
But she announced her permanent departure from Iran citing the “hypocrisy” of a system that she claimed humiliated athletes while using them for political ends.
“Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?” she wrote on Instagram as Iran was reeling from Wednesday’s accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 people on board.
Criticizing Iran’s political system for “hypocrisy,” “lying,” “injustice” and “flattery,” she said she wanted nothing more than “taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life.”
Boujjoufi said it was Alizadeh who had approached him about joining the group.
“She is world famous in taekwondo. It’s a great motivation for the group. She feels good here,” Boujjoufi said.
Alizadeh is not intending to compete for Iran at the Tokyo Olympics and is looking for another country to represent.
However if Alizadeh wanted to represent the Netherlands “she would have to apply for asylum here, a long and complicated procedure,” the coach said.
“She first wants to get her bearings before thinking about what to do next,” Boujjoufi added.
For now she was training every day at the Eindhoven Taekwondo Club and was shunning any media attention.
“She left everything and left her family in Iran. The situation is very difficult for her.
“But she is a professional,” said Boujjoufi, praising her dedication to the sport.
“She is very driven,” he said.
Alizadeh is not the first Iranian athlete to defect from Iran in recent months.
Last year, Saeid Mollaei, the defending heavyweight world champion, fled to Berlin after exposing and criticizing Tehran’s pressure on him to deliberately lose in the World Championships in Tokyo last summer in order to avoid a potential bout against an Israeli opponent.
Mollaei, who had been thee defending heavyweight world champion, went on to be granted refugee status in Germany.
The International Judo Federation has thrown its support behind Mollaei, and has vowed help him reach the summer 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
Iran does not recognize Israel and Iranian passports remind holders in bold red they are “not entitled to travel to occupied Palestine.”
Shortly after the incident, the IJF announced a decision to confirm a provisional ban on Iran over its refusal to allow its fighters to face Israeli judokas.
The Times of Israel Community.