Refugee athlete Mehdipournejad aiming for Olympic surprise. OLYMPICS.COM

Taekwondo athlete Kasra Mehdipournejad was among the Refugee Olympic Team named for Paris 2024 in May. 

It had been years since he saw his family after leaving the Islamic Republic of Iran, and seeking asylum in Germany.

Once a star of his national taekwondo team, Kasra Mehdipournejad started questioning his ability in a sport that has shaped most of his life.

He was struggling with motivation and pondering whether he would ever rekindle the passion that burned brightly within him.


“It was not easy. This feeling was bothering me,” he tells Olympics.com.

“Without taekwondo, I could not [have] handled those moments in the new life as a refugee. It was a huge support in my life, because I could develop many other things on the side.

“The only thing that we have to do is to follow my dreams. Because our dreams, they will show the way,” he says of the months he grappled with missing competitions due to visa issues.


He stumbled upon martial arts 'by accident' after watching his friend sparring.

That marked the beginning of a dominant period that saw him win several national titles and top the Iranian Super League twice.

But all that changed when the taekwondo athlete left his country and sought asylum in Germany.

After moving to Berlin in 2017, he found refuge in a taekwondo club. He tells that the biggest challenge was the new culture, language and neing so far from home, family and friends.

Returning to the competition circuit as a refugee athlete wasn’t easy, but he chose to relish the experience of competing at major events, from the European Games, to the continental and World Championships.

After a standout 2018 season, reaching the finals of five of his six tournaments across Europe, he missed out on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.




“I got invited to the Iranian national team several times, but I never competed for my country. Then in 2019 when I got the funding from IOC as a Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holder, my first tournament was the World Championship 2019, in Manchester. I remember it was a very long process,” he said.

“For Tokyo, I couldn't qualify. After that, I wanted to stop my career. But then I decided to follow my dream… I did it very hard. I sacrificed myself for taekwondo in those years.”

Kasra will compete for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in Paris. It’s been over a month since he got the confirmation, nevertheless it still feels surreal for him. 

“It was like a dream come true. It was very nice.

"It was the best moment in my life. I got a lot of positive attention from my parents, my family, especially my wife (also a taekwondo athlete), she was even happier than me."




As he inches closer to his Olympic dream, Kasra is aware of the attention he and his teammates in the IOC Refugee Olympic Team are getting, which makes him realise that the Games truly transcend sport.

"I know when we are going to be at the Olympics, all eyes will be on us and all the people around the world will be supporting us. Because we are a symbol of hope. All this is like a booster. It boosts my motivation to be a good athlete or a good role model for the refugee nation and my community."

"When you are successful in your new country, they identify you from the position of weakness. They don't say, 'look at this athlete, he's very good or very sharp, super talented'. They say, 'Oh my God, you are a refugee? You are going to the Olympics?'"

On the mat, he hopes the unpredictability nature of his sport in high level competitions works in his favour, if he can maintain the offensive kicks and counter his opponents' attacks.

"The good athletes easily win most of the time at the big tournaments, but in the Olympics nothing is sure. So, in Paris, I will do my best. Because when I do my best, I'm sure that the result will come."