Refugee fighter Farzad Mansouri comes painstakingly close to reaching Olympic quarter-finals
Taekwondo athlete Farzad Mansouri put up a valiant fight to push the second-seeded CJ Nickolas of the United States of America to the brink in their round of 16 bout at the Grand Palais in Paris 2024 on Friday (9 August).
The Afghan-born Mansouri made his second appearance at the Olympics, this time representing the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in the men’s 80kg division.
Mansouri was leading his more esteemed opponent in both rounds with Nickolas finding a way out to clinch the contest.
The 22-year-old led the first round 7-4 courtesy of two kicks to the body and one to the head before Nickolas countered in the last 30 seconds.
The second round followed a similar trajectory with Mansouri in the driving seat before the American mounted a comeback in the dying seconds with a 3-1 win to secure the victory.
Mansouri left the mat with his head held high coming painstakingly close to reaching the next round at Paris.
His second appearance at the Games is the culmination of a dramatic journey that started shortly after he made his debut in Tokyo 2020.
The then 19-year-old Mansouri competed in Tokyo with the support of an IOC scholarship through the Olympic Solidarity programme. To add to the occasion, Mansouri was the flagbearer for Afghanistan.
On his return to Afghanistan, the political situation in his country had deteriorated dramatically and was forced to flee to the United Kingdom with his family.
Mansouri remained steadfast in his pursuit of success at the Games and was given a second chance through sport by representing the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in Paris.