Kurdish Taekwondo Star Wins Gold Medal at Paris Olympics

[Anthea]

Kurdish Woman to Carry Olympic Torch

On Monday, Shilan Shamal Mustafa became the first Kurdish woman to carry the Olympic torch from Athens to Paris, France

Shilan, a Kurdish girl born in Diyala province in northern Iraq, now resides in France and was chosen to carry the torch for the Paris Olympics.

The Summer Olympics will begin on July 26 and run until August 11, while the Paralympic Games are scheduled from August 28 to September 8 in Paris.

Shilan Mustafa, 33, was born in Diyala and has three brothers. Her father, a dentist, frequently relocated with his family across Iraqi provinces before settling in Libya. In 2005, when Shilan was fourteen years old, her family moved permanently to France.

Shilan pursued her studies there and became an industrial design engineer, but her passion for sports, particularly taekwondo, persisted.

“French schools offer opportunities to learn various sports such as rugby, mountaineering, running, handball, and table tennis, but my passion was taekwondo,” Shilan explained.

After years of training in taekwondo, Shilan established the first sports club in her hometown in France. She now manages the club and coaches 40 young players.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/855069

[Anthea]

Kurdish students in Mathematical Olympiad

A total of 5 Kurdish students from South Kurdistan and the Federal Region of Iraq won bronze medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

Representatives of 109 countries participated in the 65th International Mathematical Olympiad held in England on July 11-22.

Students Ali Mikdad Mevlud and Hatem Mikdad Mevllud have won bronze medals.

This year IMO 5 Iraqi and Kurdish high school students (three in Erbil and two in other cities of Iraq) participated.

Students have to pass three different tests before participating in the Olympics.
Top 5 students who passed the test to join IMO

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Eastern-Kurd athlete wins gold

A Kurdish athlete from Iran’s Eastern Kurdistan areas on Saturday won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games

Arian Salimi, 20, from the Kurdish city of Kermanshah in Iran, won gold in the men's +80kg taekwondo weight class by defeating his British competitor Caden Cunningham 2-1 in the final bout.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated the athlete.

“Our dear son Arian Salimi, your powerful gold removed the fatigue from our bodies. Iran’s first youth in the Olympics, you won the hearts of the people with a beautiful medal, may you always be proud,” Pezeshkian said on X.

Salimi previously won the gold medal in the 87 kilograms category at the 2024 Asian Games and silver at the 2022 Asian Games. He also took gold at the 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Slam and bronze at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku.

Iran’s taekwondo team also grabbed three more medals, with Mobina Nematzadeh winning bronze in the 49 kilograms category and Nahid Kiani and Mehran Barkhordari each winning silver in the 57 and 80 kilograms categories respectively.

Iran has won ten medals so far at the Paris Olympics - three gold, five silver, and two bronze.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/11082024