IOC Refugee Olympic Team long jumper Mohammad Amin Alsalami: “Sport makes me feel alive”
"My future starts now."
Those were the thoughts of Mohammad Amin Alsalami when he reached Germany after fleeing war back home.
Selected to compete for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at Paris 2024, the long jump specialist has had to make some difficult decisions to get where he is.
“The start of the journey was the most dangerous part [and] I will never forget that,” he told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.
“I was sitting in a rubber dinghy with many other people, it was a very hard decision - whether or not I should get into it.
“After getting out of the dinghy, with solid feet under my ground, I knew: I won’t die. Now everything is getting better [and] it can’t get worse than this.”
Alsalami was right. To date, his most memorable career highlight is finishing second at the Asian Championships in 2014, but in Paris, he will achieve his biggest dream by competing at the Games.
It has been far from smooth sailing – but that treacherous journey led Alsalami to where he is now.
Mohammad Amin Alsalami: “I want to prove that I deserve this”
Alsalami’s journey to Europe took him from Türkiye via. the Greek Islands and eventually to Germany.
“From March 2015 to October 2015, I didn’t do any sport,” he revealed.
“It wasn’t possible to do my training - it was expensive [and] sports facilities were out of reach.”
Despite being able to reunite with his family there, Mohammad knew his future lay elsewhere.
In Germany he was given the chance to continue chasing his sporting dreams – and now he wants to show people that he’s at Paris 2024 because he deserves to be, not just because he is part of the Refugee Olympic Team team.
“Looking back since 2011, there were some hard days in my life but I always had this dream [to go to the Olympics],” Alsalami continued.
“I also struggled with injuries, some of them were so serious I thought I had to end my career. I can’t wait for the day when I’m at the Olympics – pressure increases but I will try to stay cool and just enjoy the Games.
“I will give it my all, I want to prove that I’m not only in Paris because I’m a refugee, but also because I deserve it as an athlete.”
Alsalami’s aims for the future
A previous coach of Aslalami’s is who he credits with making him ‘fall in love’ with athletics.
Ever since then, sport has been central to his life, and a key component of his physical and mental wellbeing.
“I want to do my sport as long as I can," he said.
"There’s a feeling you only get in sports - it gives me the feeling that I’m alive. I’m a refugee and far away from home, but I’m doing what I love.”
He knows he won’t be able to compete forever, but the 30-year-old already has an idea of what his life post-athletics will look like.
“I want to start a family and become very happy here in Germany,” he said.
“I just want to enjoy my life and I want to become a coach; I definitely want to do that.”
Alsalami currently resides in Berlin and has come a long way from arriving 'without any money in my pocket and without speaking the language'.
"You have to be patient. Everything will get better," he told himself.
With the support of those around him, his circumstances did improve.
Now it’s his turn to enjoy the fruits of his labour and sacrifice over the years, by representing the Refugee Olympic Team team in Paris.