Afghan Olympic flag bearer to compete as Refugee athlete at European Championships
May 21, 2022
Farzad Mansouri, Afghanistan’s flag bearer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is fighting for the first time as a refugee athlete in Manchester today. (Saturday).
Mansouri, 20, who has lived in a camp in Abu Dhabi since fleeing his country last summer, recently started training with GB Taekwondo at the National Taekwondo Centre in his adopted city.
He arrived in Manchester from the Middle East, where his family remain billeted in the refugee camp, on a 12-month sportsperson’s visa.
Today (Saturday), Mansouri has returned to competition at the European Championships hosted at the Regional Arena, Sportcity.
He has been included in the first-round draw of the -80kg weight division and has won his opening round against Taleh Suleymanov from Azerbaijan.