IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holder

Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj meets World Taekwondo President in Korea

Refugee athlete Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj travelled to Korea to take part in the 25th Asian Taekwondo Championships and 2022 Chuncheon Korea Open. He took time to meet World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue at the federation’s headquarters in Seoul.

Wael was recently selected by the IOC as one of nine Taekwondo athletes to receive Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes to help them train towards the goal of being selected for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024. Having narrowly missed out on competing at Tokyo 2020, Wael will be hoping to put that right at Paris 2024 in two years’ time.

The young Syrian refugee has risen up the ranks in Taekwondo in a very short space of time. In April 2016 at just 13 years old he saw a Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) exhibition being set up in the Azraq Refugee Camp where he lived. He registered the next day as one of the first academy members. A year later he was the first athlete in the camp to be awarded a black belt.

The Jordan Olympic Committee applied for an IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship for Wael and targeted competing at Tokyo 2020. He narrowly missed out, but is now targetting Paris 2024.

He made history earlier this year as he became the first Syrian refugee athlete living in the Azraq Camp in Jordan to compete in an international tournament outside the country. The 19-year-old competed under the World Taekwondo flag in the Arab Cup in Fujairah, UAE on Feb. 3-4, 2022 and the 9th Fujairah Open on Feb. 6-8 in the M-74kg category.

“We are very proud of Wael and all that he has accomplished,”

Choue said.

“To succeed in Taekwondo, you need skill but you also need determination and hard work. Wael has this and you can see he has prepared himself very well for these Asian Championships. He is an inspiration for other refugees but also for athletes around the world in showing that it is possible to overcome the most difficult challenges. We congratulate Wael on being selected for an IOC scholarship and hope that he will be part of the Paris 2024 Refugee Olympic Team.”

Wael stated how important Taekwondo has been to him.

“Taekwondo has changed my life, has given me more strength and confidence,” he said. “My goal now is to become an Olympian and to help other refugees just as I received help. My message to other refugees is, ‘never give up.’”

He also expressed his gratitude for those in WT and the THF who have assisted him on his Taewkondo journey.

“I am grateful to President Choue and all those who have supported me and allowed me to travel internationally to fulfil my dream,” he said.

World Taekwondo Council Member Maher Magableh was instrumental in arranging the visit for Wael to Korea. Great efforts were also made by the Jordanian government and the Korean Embassy in the country to bring Wael to Korea. Magableh was the driving force behind the Hope and Dreams competition. Jointly organized by the THF and the Jordan Taekwondo Federation, it saw 200 athletes from the Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps, as well as refugees training in clubs around Jordan, take part.