Taekwondo refugee athletes Hadi Tiranvalipour and Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi fought valiantly but fell short of a chance at winning a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Tiranvalipour, 26, lost in a qualification bout in the men’s under 58 kilograms competition on the first day of taekwondo events. A 2-0 loss in a match at the iconic Grand Palais saw Tiranvalipour’s Olympic dreams give way to Omar Ismail of Palestine. 

"Our journey is too difficult. Not for me, for all the refugee athletes. It’s too difficult for each of us to be here," Tiranvalipour told the Associated Press (AP), expressing his disappointment.  

Meanwhile, fellow Iranian Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi won her first bout before being defeated in the quarterfinals and succumbing to Azerbaijan’s Minaya Akbarova in the repechage round.

From competing in sports to fleeing

Both Tiranvalipour and Langeroudi were dedicated athletes who were raking up medals and sports accolades before circumstances forced them to flee Iran.

Growing up in a province near Karaj, Iran, sports had always been a part of Tiranvalipour's life. He had been competing for eight years as a member of the Iranian national team, bagging medals including the gold medal at the Asian Junior championship in 2015. Tiranvalipour studied for a Master's in Sports Science and Physical Education and also worked as a sports presenter, sharing his love for sports with a wider audience.

In 2022, Tiranvalipour lost his job after taking a stand on women’s rights. He fled to Turkey and then to Italy where reportedly lived in a forest for ten days. After training alone in a park, Tiranvalipour reportedly approached the Italian Federation, which helped him to apply for asylum and settle in the country.

Tiranvalipour trains with the national Italian taekwondo team at the Olympic Sports Center in Rome, side by side with Vito Dell’Aquila, the Tokyo Olympic champion.

"We’ve passed many difficult journeys. Never give up, if you have a target, a dream, you have to keep going. This is my message for all the refugee people in the world. We have to keep going," Tiranvalipour told AP.

Also read: Marzieh Hamidi, Afghan refugee and taekwondo athlete, wants to defy the Taliban

Meanwhile Langeroudi, 31, was the first refugee athlete to compete in the World Taekwondo Championships. Competing in Paris marked her second taekwondo appearance at an Olympic games. Langeroudi's Olympic debut was in Tokyo 2020 when she fought in the -49kg division.

Langeroudi fled Iran in 2015 and eventually settled in The Netherlands. That year, she won her first international medal at the Polish Open while still living in an asylum center.

Since then, she has racked up 45 world-ranking medals, the most recent of which include gold at the 2023 Tallinn Open, and bronze at the Spanish Open.

Langeroudi has spoken about how sports have been a lifeline to physical and mental health.

Also read: 5-person refugee team competes at European Games in Poland

"Taekwondo is my whole life...there is nothing more important than taekwondo in my life. It has taught me a lot, like to be more disciplined, and I have achieved a lot thanks to it. Taekwondo itself is a motivation, it is a support system and a passion for me," said Langeroudi in an interview on the Paris 2024 Games website.

Raising the refugee flag on a global stage 

Thirty seven athletes from 11 different nations are competing as the Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris Olympic Games. The team initially debuted in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games where 10 athletes competed as a symbol of hope and to raise global awareness of the challenges faced by refugees. 

According to the International Olympic Committee, athletes selected to represent the Olympic Refugee Team are elite competitors in their respective sport and are refugees in their host country, recognized by UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Also read: Refugee Olympic Team flies the flag for resilience at Paris Games