Tokyo 2020 Refugee Olympic Team member Kimia Alizadeh receives Bulgarian

As a Bulgarian citizen, Alizadeh would no longer be eligible to represent the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) at Paris 2024, as she no longer has the required refugee status. Alizadeh has been a Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holder since January 2021 and represented the Refugee Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020 in the -57kg women’s taekwondo event, where she came very close to becoming the first refugee athlete to win an Olympic medal when she achieved a fourth place.

“This is a great development for Kimia, and I have no doubt she will continue to inspire millions of people around the world with her courage. She has etched her name into the history of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, and we wish her all the very best for her future,” says Jojo Ferris, Head of the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF).