IOC REFUGEE OLYMPIC TEAM ATHLETE ARAM MAHMOUD ENTERS THE CUBE IN TOKYO
Aram Mahmoud - an athlete for the Refugee Olympic Team in badminton - entered the Cube from Tokyo this week to share his journey to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for Discovery and Eurosport viewers.
Aram's story is inspiring. After taking up badminton at seven-years-old with his sister Sanaa, Aram soon went on to win multiple Syrian National Championships, becoming the country's best player at just 15. In 2015, he was forced to leave his family and flee the country due to the war.
After making it to the Netherlands, he made sure badminton remained part of his life and surprised many with his skills. Surprising Aram in the Cube, Sanaa was reunited with her brother as she dialled in from Damascus, with Aram in Tokyo and Reshmin Chowdhury hosting from London.
Find the interview below and click here to watch.
On his journey from Syria to the Olympics:
I started badminton when I was seven, together with my sister, Sanna. We were playing gymnastics before but I was not so good at gymnastics. Then we moved to badminton and I played some local tournaments and I was quite good so I said to my father I want to try and play badminton. From there I was playing every year, Syrian National Championship and I won a couple. I was 15, the best in Syria with seniors. My level was quite OK in Syria.
After the war it was very difficult to stay there, I had a chance to leave and found Netherlands my second home. I brought badminton with me to the Netherlands and I told them I was the best in Syria and liked this fact that someone from Syria knows how to play badminton, they were a bit surprised. Luckily I had a lot of good people around me who helped me the five or six years I was there. They were happy for me that I made the Olympics and that I’m here playing the best tournaments in the world. It was a long journey but luckily I made it.
On the last time he saw his family:
Face to face it was back in 2015. The last time we saw each other, it was exactly a day before I left. I still talk everyday with my father, my sisters and we try to keep contact with each other. It’s a bit difficult because we haven’t seen each other for a long time and they are not here with me. It’s difficult to explain everything with them. They try to be up-to-date with everything I am doing and they try to support me and everything I’m doing. I am also sad they are not with me but happy they are still safe and can watch me follow my dream.
What his Olympic experience has been like:
It was a pleasure for me, it was like a dream for me my whole life to be at the Olympics. It was extra pleasure that I not only represented my country but all the refugees around the world. It gave me an amazing feeling. I’m so glad to have this opportunity. It’s very, very nice experience for me. Also, not a dream for me but all the athletes around the world and I’m so glad I’m here now.
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