SYDNEY (AP) — Olympic sprinter Kimia Yousofi has arrived in Australia for a fresh start a little over a year after flying the Afghan flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, competing in the 100m and then having to watch from afar. How the Taliban regained control of their country.
The Australian Olympic Committee said on Wednesday that Yousofi and Asian Games taekwondo medalist Ahmad Abasy, an activist for women’s sports inclusion, were among five Afghan families with ties to the Olympic movement who recently arrived in Australia.
“It has been a journey for me, but I am very happy to be here,” Yousofi said in a statement. “Basically, I’m starting a new life here.”
Yousofi, who arrived with his mother and one of his three brothers, aims to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, either for Afghanistan or for the International Olympic Committee Refugee Team.
Yousofi was living in Iran when he was selected for the Afghan team to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he carried the flag at the opening ceremony. He had the same honor in Tokyo last year and hopes, despite another relocation, to get another chance.
“I am going to train very hard and it would be exciting to go to Paris,” he said. “I’m definitely going to compete.”
He also thanked the people who helped his family relocate and said he is still looking for visas for two of his brothers.
The Olympic-linked group joins more than 100 Afghan athletes, including soccer players and cricketers, who resettled in Australia last year after the Taliban took control amid the US military’s withdrawal from Kabul after of 20 years of war.
The Taliban celebrated a year on Monday since they took the Afghan capital. Former insurgents struggle to rule and remain isolated internationally, while the economic downturn has pushed millions more Afghans into poverty.
The Taliban-led government has also placed restrictions on access to education and work for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary. Teenage girls are not allowed to attend school and women must cover themselves from head to toe in public, showing only their eyes.
Abasy, who competed internationally and was a Taekwondo coach, said girls and women in his country were “denied the right to sport”.
“This is a great loss for the sport of Afghanistan and the world,” Abasy said. ”Afghan girls are very talented in sports and have made significant achievements that should not be ignored.
“Afghan girls should actively participate in international competitions, and we will see one of the Afghan girls win a… medal. I will fight for your rights.”
The Australian Olympic Committee worked with the Department of the Interior to secure visas and flights for Afghan families and with sponsors for their financial support and help with housing and employment.
“For the families involved, the stress and uncertainty during this time has been enormous,” AOC Executive Director Matt Carroll said in the statement. “These brave people have endured significant hardships. “It is a proud moment for the Olympic movement in Australia that we have them here, safe and well settled.”
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