An Iranian refugee living in Belgium, where she works as a postwoman, has won a place in the taekwondo competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Raheleh Asemani, 26, was one of 16 athletes who won Olympic slots at the European qualification tournament in Istanbul last weekend January 16-17.

“I work in a post office, I run from house to house delivering letters, but today I have delivered an Olympic ticket – I’m going to Rio!” Asemani said. “Hope has carried me to the Olympics, now I will give all I have to win.”

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In taewkondo, as with many sports, athletes win Olympic quota places for their nations, who then decide if to use the slot and which athletes to send. However, the case of Asemani is different. She is a resident of Belgium but does not have Belgian nationality. While she hopes to get a Belgian passport and thus compete for the European nation, she is currently competing as an independent athlete.

She competed under the flag of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in Istanbul, where she defeated Finland’s Suvi Mikkonen in the final of the -57kg category. If she does not become a Belgian national before the Rio 2016 Games, it seems likely that Asemani will compete under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flag as an independent athlete.

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IOC president Thomas Bach announced last October at the United Nations in New York that that top-level refugee athletes will be invited to compete at the Rio 2016 Games. “Having no national team to belong to, no flag to march behind, no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic Flag and with the Olympic Anthem,” he said.

Asemani, an Asian Games silver medallist, was one of three athletes identified by the IOC in December as potentially fulfilling the IOC’s criteria.

“When I do taekwondo, I do it for my dad and my family”

Raheleh Asemani

The WTF responded to the IOC appeal by ammending its rules to allow refugee athletes to compete at the contintental qualification tournaments. It also launched the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), which will send teams of instructors to teach the sport to young people in refugee camps around the world, starting last December with the opening of an academy at the Zaatari camp in Jordan.

Asemani said she speaks to her family in Iran everyday and receives their support in her bid to compete at Rio 2016. “I have to talk to my dad every day,” she said. “I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t talk to him for two days.”

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16 athletes from 12 countries won Rio 2016 places at the European qualifiers in Istanbul (Photo: Turkish Taekwondo Federation)

Click here to see the list of athletes/nations that earned places at Rio 2016 via the European qualifying tournament.
 

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.