SEDIQI Abdullah

General
FROM AFGHANISTAN TO BELGIUM
In 2017 he fled Afghanistan to seek refuge in Belgium. "It was a gruelling mission, there were days I walked for 12 hours straight. Four years ago [speaking in 2021], the situation in my home country was unbearable and I fled. Life was already difficult there anyway, but as a promising taekwondo athlete I aroused a lot of jealousy in the place where we lived. I was physically threatened by gangsters and could no longer live a normal life. At one point I feared for my life. There is stability in Belgium and I knew there were also opportunities for me in the field of taekwondo. If I wanted to make something of my life, I had to go to Belgium. I hope in the long run to acquire Belgian nationality and to settle here permanently." (olympics.com, 22 Feb 2021; belgiantaekwondofederation.be, 15 Jun 2021; taekwondo.be, 08 Jan 2021)

REFUGEE ATHLETE SCHOLAR
He joined the International Olympic Committee [IOC] Refugee Athlete Scholarship programme in January 2018. "Countries can come together [through] sport, it doesn't matter who you are. Black, white, woman, man, or what country they're from. At the Olympics [they're] from one place." (olympics.com, 22 Feb 2021, 20 Jun 2020)

PERSONAL LOSS
In 2020 his mother passed away after contracting COVID-19. "Her death was difficult for me - I had not seen her since my arrival in Belgium. Suddenly, you are told she is seriously ill; a while later she was gone. That's tough, but I have to move on." (olympics.com, 22 Feb 2021; belgiantaekwondofederation.be, 15 Jun 2021)