Saeid Fazloula, the 31-year-old, two-time Olympic flatwater canoeist who made history in 2020 to become the first-ever refugee athlete to compete in canoeing, will retire from international racing after the Paris games this summer.
Fazloula is a native Iranian and has been living in Germany since 2015 when he fled his home country to seek refuge, according to the International Canoe Federation.
He is joined in Paris by three other refugee paddlers: 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.”
The ICF reported that Fazloula struggled to hold back the tears when speaking to media after joining his family who were watching on from the stands, and 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.
“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. 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.” He also thanked the Olympic Refugee Foundation and the ICF for their support.
Jorge Enriquez also 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, according to ICF, finishing behind Czechia’s Martin Fuksa and Brazil’s Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz in the heats before the quarter-final.