An emotional Saeid Fazloula said he was proud to have represented more than 120 million displaced people from around the world at the Olympic Games in Paris after completing his last competitive race.
Fazloula struggled to hold back the tears when speaking to the media soon after being with his family who were watching on from the stands.
The 31-year-old will retire from international racing as a two-time Olympian and a history maker having become the first-ever refugee athlete to compete in canoeing at Tokyo 2020.
“It’s my last race,” said Fazloula after finishing fourth in the quarter-final of the men’s kayak single 1000m.
“I did a good job and I’m happy for our team and more than 120 million refugees.
“I’m happy.
“We had the wind changing every five minutes but during the race I felt very good.
“I think I did a good race at the end.
“The other guys were too strong so congratulations to all athletes going through to the semi-finals.
“I will stand here and cheer for them.
“My wife and son were here to see me in the competition which is crazy.
“It is unbelievable.
“I am very thankful to the Olympic Refugee Foundation, the ICF and all the people that supported me.
Fazloula is a native Iranian and has been living in Germany since 2015 when he fled his home country to seek refuge.
The 31-year-old is joined in Paris by three other refugee paddlers with Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez and Saman Soltani in Canoe Sprint and Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani in Canoe Slalom.
“The journey was too hard and long but I am happy to be here for a second time,” said Fazloula.
“It was not easy for me but I am happy that we have four canoe athlete and maybe in Los Angeles we will have more.
“In Tokyo, I was the first-ever canoe refugee athlete and now we have four which makes me happy.”
Soltani, another refugee from Iran, has also been enjoying her experience in Paris as she made her Olympic debut.
The 28-year-old posted a time of 2:01.43 in the women’s kayak single 500m but it was not enough to reach the semi-finals.
“The race was fantastic,” said Soltani who lives in Austria.
“I was more relaxed than the first one and I did this one better so my time was better and I’m happy.
“I’m very proud.
“It was a great experience.”
Jorge Enriquez made history at Tokyo 2020 when he and Serquey Torres became the first-ever Cubans to win Canoe Sprint gold with victory in the men’s canoe double 1000m.
But the 25-year-old, now representing the International Olympic Committee Olympic Refugee Team, missed out on a place in the semi-final of the men’s canoe single 1000m.
He finished behind Czechia’s Martin Fuksa and Brazil’s Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz in the heats before fading in the quarter-final.
“I think maybe on a tactical level I failed a little bit,” said Jorge Enriquez.
“Maybe I started a little bit too strong and ran out of steam at the end there.
“I am still proud of what I have achieved.
“I feel proud as I am supported by an organisation and I am able to represent more than 100 million displayed people from around the world.
“I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to compete at another Olympics but I kept my head up high, kept training and I am happy to be here again.”
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