Iran's Only Olympic Medallist Leaves the Country

The athlete said she is one of millions of oppressed women in Iran.

Kimia Alizadeh, Iran's only female athlete to win an Olympic medal, a 21-year-old taekwondo fighter, has decided to leave the country. The young woman said she was being harassed by the authorities.

“I — am one of millions of oppressed women in Iran. <...> They sent me wherever they wanted. I wore whatever they told me to. I repeated every statement they asked me to. Whenever they deemed it necessary, they used me”, — the athlete wrote on her Instagram page.

In 2016, Alizadeh won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, defeating Swedish taekwondo athlete Nikita Glasnović and becoming the first and only Iranian woman to receive an award at the Olympics.

According to her, Iranian authorities were pleased with her victories, but they cared only about the medals. They criticized Alizadeh for the sport she had chosen: “A decent woman must not spread her legs.”

According to the athlete, she moved to Europe, but it is not specified where exactly. The young woman noted that no one had invited her there, and that this decision was even harder for her than the Olympic award.

“I have no desire other than taekwondo, safety and a happy, healthy life”, — the athlete added, promising that she would remain a daughter of Iran wherever she is.

The Iranian agency ISNA, which reported Alizadeh's departure as early as January 8, reports that the young woman decided to live in the Netherlands.

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee sanctioned 33-year-old Ukrainian weightlifter Oleksiy Torokhtiy. The weightlifter was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for doping.