EOC Refugee Team's Kasra Mehdipournejad at the European Games 2023: "Never give up, and follow your dreams"

EOC Refugee Athlete Kasra Mehdipournejad put on a strong display at the European Games 2023, winning his Round of 16 match in the -80kg event on 25 June, before departing the competition after a hard-fought battle against Spain's Jon Cintado Arteche.

The 30-year-old, who was forced to flee his home in Islamic Republic of Iran and now resides in Germany, was just one of the stars competing on a thrilling day of action that included gold medal performances by Belgium's Sarah Chaari (women's -62kg), Georgia's Zurab Kintsurashvili (men's -74kg), Serbia's Aleksandra Perisic (women's -67kg) and Denmark's Edi Hrnic in the men's -80kg.

Mehdipournejad faced a strong challenger in Cintado Arteche, a World Championships silver medallist in 2022, and despite his best efforts he lost 2 rounds to 0.

While disappointed he did not progress in the tournament, Mehdipournejad told Olympics.com in an interview following his final bout that he was pleased with the level of performance he has demonstrated in Poland.

"It was really good, I was super sharp and I had good preparation with my coach and teammates," he said. "The first match was really good against Croatia, he was a really good athlete, a tall athlete. And the second match against Spain was not that good. Actually, I planned to be better but I was a bit unlucky."

The EOC Refugee Team have four athletes competing at these European Games, all of them in combat sports. The other names are taekwondo athlete Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi and boxers Cindy Ngamba and Farid Walizadeh.

And Mehdipournejad spoke passionately about the importance of the EOC Refugee Team when it comes to shining a light on the issues facing displaced people across the world today.

"As you know, we have many refugees around the world, many of them have no access to water or medical facilities, they have no accommodation. [They come] from around the world in Europe, Africa, Yemen, refugees from Syria, Jordan, and Ukraine.

"But I'm proud of myself for being a role model for the refugee community, so I can give them hope to never give up, and follow your dreams."

Four golden taekwondo moments at the European Games in Poland

Elsewhere in the competition, four gold medals were won by athletes on the penultimate day of taekwondo action at the European Games 2023.

18-year-old Sarah Chaari of Belgium, the reigning world champion, won the women's -62kg final putting on a sensational performance to take the final 2 rounds to 1 after previously beating British hope and eventual bronze medal winner Aaliyah Powell in the semifinal.

In the men's -74kg, Georgia's Zurab Kintsurashvili enjoyed a shutout victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina's Nedzad Husic in the gold medal match.

The last two finals saw Serbia's Aleksandra Perisic beat Spain's Cecilia Castro Burgos in the women's -67kg competition, while Denmark's Edi Hrnic defeated Norway's Richard Ordemann in the men's -80kg.