Taekwondo: Somali exile fights for Olympic dream

Lausanne–Faisal Jeylani Aweys has not seen his native Somalia since he fled 14 years ago, but he lives in hope of winning an Olympic medal for his war-torn country.

And Awey’s chosen sport of taekwondo has a way of throwing up medals for countries in trouble such as Afghanistan — so why not Somalia?

Aweys grew up in a country at war and his mother died from cancer when he was still a small boy. He left with a sister for Switzerland at the age of 13. “I discovered a life, that of an adolescent, because up to then, my life had only been running away.”

Inspired by his mother who had been a taekwondo athlete, Aweys also took up the martial art.

“My French teacher knew a bit of my story and told me to ‘go for this’. Out of respect for her, I did it. It was a way to get closer to my mother.”

Now he teaches taekwondo in Lausanne and is ranked 60th in the world in the under-58 kilos category.

In Switzerland, Aweys quickly became a black belt and qualified to become a referee and coach.

“For a long time, I fought in the name of my club, not Switzerland, as I did not have a passport,.” he said.

Married and with a young child, Aweys decided to halt competition in 2010 because he thought sport would dominate his family life.

But the secretary general of the Somali Olympic Committee, Duran Farah, went to the Lausanne Open tournament and Aweys’ life changed again.

“He was looking for top level athletes. At first I was not very keen, but I had no real excuse not to fight, so I said yes.”

 

AFP