Iran's only
female Olympic medallist, Kimia Alizadeh, has said she has left the country
permanently following accusations of mistreatment and sexism against officials.
The 21-year-old is reportedly in the Netherlands.
 |
| Kimia Alizadeh | 2016 Rio Olympics - Taekwondo (Reuters/I. Kato) |
Amid rising
unrest in Iran following the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian plane and
simmering tensions with the USA, Iran's only female Olympic medallist,
Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she has defected.
In an
Instagram post on Sunday, the 21-year-old said she didn't want to be a part of
"hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery" as "one of the
millions of oppressed women in Iran".
"I
wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence
they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools,"
she added.
Alizadeh,
who made history when she won bronze in Taekwondo at the Rio Olympics as an
18-year-old, is believed to be training in the Netherlands, according to Iran's
ISNA news agency.
She has
claimed in the past that the Islamic Republic has used her as a propaganda tool
and accused Iranian officials of sexism and mistreatment.
The ISNA
agency reported that Alizadeh is hoping to still compete at the Tokyo Olympics
later this year, but not under the Iranian flag.
 |
| Iranian students demonstrated following a tribute for victims of Wednesday's plane crash (AFP Photo/Atta KENARE) |
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