Refugee canoeist Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani on Paris 2024: I want to make my family proud
After spending years unable to compete in the sport he has loved since the age of seven, Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani’s canoe slalom dream is now firmly back on track.
The 24-year-old fled his war-torn homeland in 2012, finding his way to Germany where he was welcomed into Augsburg,
Since then, he has been rebuilding his life, and re-finding his place in the canoe.
“I have never given up hope that I can return to my sport one day,” he told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.
“I had to catch up on training in a short time; it wasn’t easy to get back to a high level of performance, but I never stopped working.”
When he returned to the water in 2022, Amir did so as a hobby. Competitions soon followed in 2023, when he realised he could compete as a refugee.
“On that day, light came back into my life,” he told us. “I got the chance to continue my career after all these years.”
His return to canoe slalom has guided him to the Olympic Games, where he will make his debut at Paris 2024.
Amir’s primary goal is to make his family proud regardless of where he finishes.
“I will try to enjoy the Games; I want to make my mother proud of me, and my sister.
“I want the people who helped me in Germany to be happy, especially the canoeing club in Augsburg, they are like family to me.
“They should feel that it was worth it supporting me.”
Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani: Overcoming challenges and setbacks
Few know more than Amir what it takes to overcome challenges.
After leaving everything he knows behind, the soon-to-be Olympian had to start from scratch, in life and sport.
“For me, it was important to stay on my path [and] to hold on when something didn’t work,” he explained.
“I had the goal to continue my career and I didn’t stop believing. I have always been holding on to the dream of a normal life.”
With his arrival in his new home came a lot of uncertainty, but Amir began to train again, spending time alongside German athletes.
It was a chance to ‘watch the champions of my sport every day’, providing the perfect chance for him to improve and ‘get better and better’.
But that hasn’t come without it’s challenges, navigating his time between the sport and working as an electronics technician.
“My supervisor gave me time off, he supports me so I could focus on my training in the last two months.”
This is just the start for Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani
Amir’s life as a canoe specialist began as a young child, but it wasn’t until he found slalom that he really started to have fun with it.
For him, flat water is ‘boring’, and he wants to ‘have fun’ with it.
“You have to be brave and you need the right technique,” he said, discussing slalom.
“You have to use the paddle sheets in a very different way compared to canoe sprint.”
From the lakes that forged his love for the sport to the Olympic Games – this is just the start for Rezanejad Hassanjani.
“I want to perform to [my] best in Paris,” he added.
“But for me, this is only the beginning. The IOC has assured me that they will continue to support me in the next four years until LA 2028.
“Let’s see how I will be able to improve when I have the possibility to do my sport for four years straight.”