Farzad Mansouri was the teenage flagbearer for his nation at the last Olympics. Three years on, displaced by war and relocated to Manchester, he will compete under a new banner in Paris.
Wearing traditional white robes, a patterned tunic and a black face mask, Farzad Mansouri proudly carried the Afghanistan flag into Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.
Now 22, he will compete under a different flag in Paris. When the athletes sail down the River Seine in July's opening ceremony, Mansouri will be beneath a banner bearing the Olympic rings this time. Despite what he was hearing, Mansouri told his brother he was going home: “I’m carrying my flag. I will live in Afghanistan until I'm safe.
Mansouri packed two small bags, stuffing in whatever sporting kit he could. His mother, still recovering from a back operation, father, brother, sister and niece all decided to make the journey. The day after they landed in the United Arab Emirates, a suicide bomb attack on Kabul airport killed 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers.Sultani, 25, had left his wife and two young children further back as he tried to get nearer to the gate and secure their passage out the of the country. Unwittingly, he was moving closer to the blast that would kill him.
Afghans surrounded Kabul airport in August 2021 attempting to gain access to evacuation flights out of the country Having explained his situation to camp staff, he was allowed to leave the room – but not the compound - and he started running and skipping and doing some conditioning. He would be able to train at GB Taekwondo’s centre in Manchester, alongside Olympic medallists such as Jade Jones, Bianca Cook and Bradly Sinden.Mansouri had thought he would be in the camp for one or two months but that had became eight before he finally left for the UK in May 2022.Arriving in England, Mansouri spoke very little English. Paired with a coach from Liverpool, he found he understood even less.
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