Olympic Games of Tokyo on July 25, 2021. Makuhari Event Messe convention center.

For his first big world sports scene, Abdullah Sediqi was not afraid. With precise blows like the roundhouse kick, one of the most difficult to execute, the young Afghan proved an intimidating opponent for the double reigning champion of less than 68 kilos, Zhao Shuai from China.

Sediqi narrowly lost the match but fell into the arms of his coach afterwards, happy to have come so close to the victory. "I will never forget that day," he told InfoMigrants. "It was an incredible feeling and so many thoughts went through my head!"

Abdullah Sediqi went through multiple hardships before getting to the Olympics. Born in Guldura in 1996, north of Kabul, he grew up in a family of athletes. An energetic child, he discovered taekwondo at the age of six after seeing young people practicing the discipline, which is popular in Afghanistan. 

He immediately fell in love with the sport.

"I quickly realized I wanted to practice taekwondo all the time. I not only liked the mindfulness it required, but also the desire to surpass oneself," he says.

He was a quick learner and in a few years became one of the country's greatest hopes, winning several national titles in the Cadet and Junior categories. The Sediqi phenomenon gained momentum, and the prodigy of the tatami mats began attracting attention.

"Fans recognized me on the street. I did not pay much attention to it, I just wanted to perform and be a good example for young people. That has always been very important to me."

"I left everything I loved behind with a heavy heart"

Sediqi joined the senior national team at the age of 15 and won several major continental titles, including the Asian Open in 2011 and the Bahrain Open in 2013. He often spoke on live television, confirming his role as a well-known sports figure in Afghanistan.

Yet the spotlight did not only attract friends: in 2016, he became the victim of several physical attacks.

"I had to be hospitalized and I received serious threats from criminal groups. It was very hard to live with, they tried to force me to stop practicing taekwondo," he said without going into further detail.

Sediqi's dream turned into a nightmare when the federation no longer had the means to finance its athletes. His mother told him his family could no longer ensure his safety, and that he had to leave the country as soon as possible. "It was hard to digest. I packed my things, leaving everything I loved behind with a heavy heart," he recalls.

In 2017, he left for Iran, with one goal in mind: to reach Europe. "I quickly realized I couldn't stay in Iran. So I joined a group of people to head west and take the migratory route that so many people take every day," he recalls. "I never imagined I would experience this one day."

He did not know anyone in his group. "I had heard a lot of stories about the migrant journey and it scared me. You do not know what the next kilometer will be like, who you can meet, and if you can cross the borders. It's an inhuman ordeal," he said.

His group continued northwest and reached Turkey. From there, Sediqi and his comrades took a boat to Greece, and then traveled to Europe through the Balkans.

"We walked 12 hours a day, without water"

 The days were endless, and the summer heat was stifling. "We often walked twelve hours a day, without food or water. We had no choice. I think I was lucky, unlike some fellow travelers who never reached Western Europe, or who were expelled during the journey."

After two and a half months, Abdullah Sediqi arrived in Brussels feeling exhausted, and found himself at the Petit-Château, the center for asylum seekers in the capital. He was recognized almost immediately.

"We met when he arrived, and I knew who he was," said Murtaza Noori, another refugee in Belgium. "He is famous and he is from the same city as me. I saw he was weak but I told him to hang on and work hard. We would go to the same gym together. I knew that deep down, he wanted to get back in shape to become the excellent taekwondo athlete he once was. He talked about the Olympic Games all the time, it was an obsession!” he said with a smile.

When Sediqi received a positive response to his asylum application, it was "a huge relief. I was able to fully concentrate on my passion."

The Olympic dream

Sediqi first joined a club in the Brussels capital, making his first steps in official tournaments and winning medals in Spain and Poland. He began working with the Iranian Alireza Nasser Azadani, one of the most successful coaches in taekwondo history.

He had several successes in tournaments in 2019 and participated in the world championship in Manchester.

Sediqi began aiming for Tokyo in 2020.

"The Olympic Games are the dream of a lifetime. I trained in Belgium with two former participants of the Games," he said. In June 2020, he received a call from the International Olympic Committee, which included him in the refugee team. This marked "one of the best days of my life," according to Sediqi.

It was there that he fought a titanic fight against the future Chinese Olympic champion, Zhao Shuai, who he was on the verge of beating. Today, the Afghan does not want to rest on his laurels. Paris 2024 is in his sights. "If he uses 100% of his strength and stays in a perfect state of mind, I think he can win an Olympic medal", said his trainer Azadani. "He is visibly progressing, he always wants to learn and he puts all the assets on his side in order to succeed".

Sediqi knows Paris 2024 can represent much more than just the Olympics. "I want to be there to make my compatriots proud and show young people that anything is possible. I know a hundred Afghan friends will come and support me!” he said.