The 25-year-old athlete is preparing for her third Olympic Games. She was third at Rio 2016 representing Iran and fifth at Tokyo 2020 representing the IOC Refugee Team. Now she is representing Bulgaria and she has won her first tournament under her new flag.

"Of course it's hard when you leave your country and you face a lot of new things such as a new language, new culture and new people," Alizadeh told Reuters.

"It is hard, it's a new start. I have to start from the beginning and I have to update myself and adapt myself. Of course it's hard but I just moved on and I went forward for my goal."

Alizadeh says that the Bulgarian citizenship was extra motivation for her.

"Everything is much easier for me now. Also I faced a lot of new things and I feel more responsible but, yeah, I really like it."

"It felt like home and I really liked the warm welcome and I was really comfortable and I felt that here is my second home and I want to represent Bulgaria in my competition from now on," she said.

Though Alizadeh left Iran due to oppressive conditions, she can still inspire women in Iran, along with people in her adopted country, as she becomes Bulgaria's first taekwondo Olympic athlete.

"Being a role model is hard because you feel a lot of responsibility in what you're doing because lots of especially young people watch you and they see what are you doing and what are you saying because they want to follow your way," she said.

"And it's hard, it's a lot of responsibility. And I'm always thinking I have to do the correct thing and the right thing to show them the right way," concluded the athlete.