Muna Dahouk ( ar, منى دهوك; born 27 August 1995) is a

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

who competed at the

2020 Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

as part of the IOC Refugee Team.

Early life

She started

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

when she was six years old. Her father was a judo teacher and her sister, Oula, also competes. After the civil war broke out, their father was killed. In 2019, she fled Syria and joined her mother in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and settled in

s-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

Career

Dahouk competed at the 2019 Budapest Grand Prix, the 2020 Paris Grand Slam and the 2020 Düsseldorf Grand Slam. Dahouk was selected as part of the IOC Refugee Team in June 2021. She competed at the

in the Women's 63 kg and the Mixed team events. In the individual event she faced

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

champion Maylín del Toro Carvajal. Dahouk took part in the

2023 European Judo Championships The 2023 European Judo Championships were held at the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, France, from 3 to 5 November 2023 as part of the IJF World Tour and during the 2024 Summer Olympics qualification period. Medal table Medal summary ...

in Montpellier. She is competing in the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

in Paris as part of the

Refugee Olympic Team The Refugee Olympic Team is a group made up of independent Olympic participants who are refugees. In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a s ...

. She told CBS that she wants to use her platform as a refugee athlete to break down stereotypes and challenge misconceptions about refugees: "I will represent the refugees around the world – to show people what the refugees can do. We are not weak people. We can be athletes, we can be students, we can be anything we want."

Personal life

She is the cousin of fellow judoka

Sanda Aldass Sanda Aldass (born 26 June 1990) is a judoka from Syria who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games as part of the IOC Refugee Team. Biography Aldass fled Damascus in her homeland, Syria, in 2015, having previously been a member of Syria’s nat ...

. She graduated from a commercial and banking institute in Syria and later studied sport in

. She features in the

Waad Al-Kateab Waad Al-Kateab ( ar, وعد الخطيب; born ) is the pseudonym of a Syrian journalist, filmmaker, and activist. Her documentary, ''For Sama'' (2019), was nominated for four BAFTAs at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards, winning for Best Docu ...

documentary ''We Dare to Dream''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahouk, Muna Living people 1995 births Sportspeople from Damascus Syrian judoka Expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics Syrian expatriates in the Netherlands Syrian expatriate sportspeople Syrian refugees Refugee Olympic Team at the 2024 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2024 Summer Olympics