Raheleh Asemani ( fa, راحله آسمانی, born 21 June 1989) is an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian-born

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner who competes internationally for

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. She participated at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. She has a history of participating in the Asian games.

Personal life

Asemani was born on 21 June 1989 in

Karaj Karaj ( fa, کرج, ) is the capital of Alborz Province, Iran, and effectively a satellite city of Tehran. Although the county hosts a population around 1.97 million, as recorded in the 2016 census, most of the county is rugged mountain. The urb ...

, Iran. Asemani left Iran as a refugee in 2012 and settled in Belgium where she works for the postal service. In April 2016 she was granted Belgian citizenship.

Taekwondo

Representing Iran she won a silver medal at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

in the women's 62 kg division after losing to Noh Eun-sil in the final. As she had not yet gained Belgian citizenship Asemani was suggested as a potential competitor for the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. She was allowed to compete at the

2016 European Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament The 2016 European Qualification Tournament for Rio Olympic Games was held in Istanbul, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, t ...

held in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, under the flag of the governing body, the

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekw ...

, as an independent athlete. Competing in the women's −57 kg weight division she advanced to the final of the tournament where she faced

Suvi Mikkonen Suvi Mikkonen (born 11 July 1988, in SaariSuvi Mikkonen
(in Finnish)) is a Finnish < ...

of Finland. Asemani won the bout 7–4 to earn her qualification for the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

in Rio as a refugee competitor. After she was granted Belgian citizenship she applied to compete instead for the Belgian team, with

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) President

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...

saying that such permission would be granted. As such she was not named as part of the ten athlete squad for the refugee team. At the

2016 European Taekwondo Championships The 2016 European Taekwondo Championships was the 22st edition of the European Taekwondo Championships, and was held in Montreux, Switzerland, from May 19 to May 22, 2016.http://www.taekwondodata.com/resultlist_country.html?cid=senior&tnid=596 M ...

held in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

, Switzerland, Asemani represented Belgium and won a bronze medal behind Great Britain's Jade Jones and Sweden's

Nikita Glasnovic Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name) * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *'' Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', ...

. During the tournament both Asemani and Jones, along with British-born Moldovan

Aaron Cook Aaron Cook may refer to: *Aaron Cook (baseball) (born 1979), Major League Baseball pitcher * Aaron Cook (footballer) (born 1979), Welsh footballer * Aaron Cook (politician), Nauruan politician *Aaron Cook (taekwondo) Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 ...

, were named by the World Taekwondo Federation as the sport's first three humanitarian ambassadors. She competed in the women's featherweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asemani, Raheleh Living people 1989 births Belgian female taekwondo practitioners Iranian female taekwondo practitioners Asian Games silver medalists for Iran Asian Games medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2010 Asian Games Olympic competitors from Iran who represented other countries Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Iranian refugees Refugees in Belgium Naturalised citizens of Belgium Iranian emigrants to Belgium People from Karaj Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Belgium Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Sportspeople of Iranian descent European Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Belgian women 21st-century Iranian women