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IRAN’S ONLY FEMALE OLYMPIC MEDALLIST DEFECTS

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Iran’s only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh says she has defected from the country after criticising the regime’s “hypocrisy, lies and injustice”.

The taekwondo star made history at Rio 2016 when, aged just 18, she captured bronze in the women’s under-57 kilograms division.

Her success generated many headlines but Alizadeh claimed Iranian authorities had since used her achievement for political gain.

She said they linked the Olympic medal to Iran’s law which makes wearing the hijab compulsory for women.

Iran has faced severe criticism from the west for alleged human rights abuses with Amnesty International claiming that the situation has “severely deteriorated”.

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Women are said to face “entrenched discrimination”.

Alizadeh posted on Instagram in Farsi, alongside a black and white photograph of her at Rio 2016. 

She said that she was in Europe, but had not received an offer to go there.

“Let me now freely introduce my censored identity,” she wrote.

“I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.

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“They took me wherever they wanted, whatever they said I wore. 

“Every sentence they ordered I repeated. 

“Whenever they saw fit, they confiscated me. 

“They put my medals on the obligatory veil and attributed it to their management and tact.

“I didn’t care, none of us care about them, we are tools. 

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“Only those metal medals are important to buy political exploitation at whatever price they themselves have set.”

Alizadeh, who has two World Championship medals and won gold at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, said she faced comments such as “the virtue of a woman is not to stretch her legs”.

She was selected to be Iran’s flagbearer at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang but withdrew from the event amid long-standing injury problems, which some feared would cause her retirement.

“My troubled spirit does not fit into your dirty economic channels and tight political lobbies,” she added. 

“I have no other wish except for taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life.

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“Dear Iranian people, I did not want to climb the stairs of corruption and lies.

“No-one has invited me to Europe and I haven’t been given an offer.

“But I was suffering from the hardship of homesickness because I didn’t want to sit at the table of hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery. 

“This decision is even harder to win than the Olympic gold, but I remain the son of Iran wherever I am.” 

Mahin Farhadizadeh, a deputy Iranian Sports Minister, said he had not read the Instagram post, according to the ISNA news agency and Reuters.

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“As far as I know she always wanted to continue her studies in physiotherapy,” he said. 

Alizadeh’s decision is the latest high-profile defection to hit Iran after judoka Saeid Mollaei joined the Mongolian team.

He was ordered to withdraw from the World Championships in Tokyo last year, where he was defending his under-81 kilograms title, to avoid the possibility of facing Israel’s Sagi Muki.

Threats were reportedly made to himself and his family and he initially sought asylum in Germany.

The news also comes at a time of high political tension in Iran following the assassination of top general Qasem Soleimani in a strike ordered by American President Donald Trump.

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More than 50 people died in a stampede at his funeral and 176 people were killed when the Iranian military, who fired back at American airbases in Iraq, mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane. 

-insidethegames

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Olympics

Olympic rings removed from Eiffel Tower

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The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic Rings

The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.

The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June. 

According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo  wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.

The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.

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Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul

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Ahmed El-Gendy won Egypt's only gold at the Paris Olympics

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered  a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that  participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.

The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.

Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.

Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.

Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review. 

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Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.

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Paris 2024 Games break record ticket sales

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Beach Volleyball - Men's Gold Medal Match - Sweden vs Germany (Ahman/Hellvig vs Ehlers/Wickler) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 10, 2024. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo

Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.

Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.

In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.

-Reuters

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