Page 23 - TORCH Magazine #15 - February 2020

Iran’s only female Olympic medallist
The second Iranian to flee her country was Kimia Alizadeh, the only woman in Iran’s history to win an Olympic medal.
Kimia won gold at the Taekwondo World Championships as a teenager and the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. However, in January 2019, just months before she was due to represent Iran at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, news broke that Kimia had defected from Iran and was seeking refuge in Europe.
She wrote a post on Instagram explaining her decision: "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote in a post that garnered more than 640,000 likes.
She added that although the government exploited her sporting success publicly, officials would humiliate her privately with comments such as: "It is not virtuous for a woman to stretch her legs."
Sadly, some media outlets in the West used Kimia’s wearing of the hijab as a reason to push certain political agendas. However, Kimia has spoken out against women being forced to cover themselves.
"I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools."
Since her defection, Kimia has been pictured in public and competing in
Kimia Alizadeh
Taekwondo without her hijab.
Iran has seen a growing number of women
protest the mandatory wearing of the hijab. Many brave women have defied orders to cover their heads, and as a result, some of have been arrested, beaten, raped and even killed for this simple act. Even female lawyers who have defended these women in Iran’s courts have been imprisoned, sometimes for years, being accused of blasphemy.
Saeid and Kimia are both world champions in their respective sports. They were at the pinnacle of their careers and sadly will now not be able to represent their home country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics because of the regime’s oppression. Both athletes are still expected to compete under the Olympic badge.
There are millions of people in Iran who desire freedom, but few have the means to escape. When Iranian people have spoken out, the regime has attempted to crack down on their freedom through violence or by spreading fear to silence legitimate protest. Meanwhile the regime is refusing to support their own people whilst funnelling money
to terrorist groups around the region in their attempts to wipe out Israel and the Jewish people.
Thankfully, many Iranians can see through the lies. We must pray for Iran and the Iranian people. Pray that one day they will be free from their dictators and able to embrace peace with Israel.
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