Mahboubeh Barbari Zharfi: Mother, refugee, judoka and soon-to-be Olympian

Mahboubeh Barbari Zharfi wears many hats.

A single mother, judoka and refugee, she will soon add to that list 'Olympian' when she competes at the 2024 Paris Games as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

“I want to give it my all,” she said in an interview published on Olympics.com.

“I want to prove one thing: even if you are a single mother and a refugee, you can achieve your goal and your biggest dream. For my daughter, I want to be a person to look up to.”

Her journey to the Paris Olympics has been one defined by resilience.

Barbari Zharfi, 32, hails from the port city of Bandar Anzali in the north of Iran, where her childhood was marked by political repression and street violence. Perhaps it was these challenging circumstances that drove her to seek refuge in judo, a discipline she took up as a teenager on her mother's recommendation.

"At that time, I realised judo had the power to give me a purpose in life," Barbari Zharfi said.

She eventually worked her way into the Iranian national judo team but in 2018 sought asylum in Germany, where her then husband was living, along with her daughter.

“It was very difficult,” Barbari Zharfi says about adapting to life in Germany.

“Everything was totally different compared to my life in Iran: the culture, the weather. But I have one big strength: I like to interact with people. That helped me a lot and now everything is fine.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 117 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023. This equates to more than 1 in every 69 people on Earth.

In 2023, Barbari Zharfi became an IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship Holder. In May she was named as one of the 36 athletes to represent the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris.

Out of the 36 athletes from 11 countries selected, 14 – or almost 40 per cent – are Iranian.

Barbari Zharfi made headlines last year when she took part in the Judo World Championships, becoming the first Iranian woman to compete in the discipline without the hijab mandated by Iran. She has climbed to 170th place in the world rankings.

"I am very excited to participate in the Games; it's a first for me. When I found out I was selected, I cried. I didn't expect to have such a reaction, but suddenly I felt like I had achieved everything in my life. I was really emotional," Barbari Zharfi said.

The considerable presence of Iranian refugees in the team follows a surge in the emigration of athletes from Iran, driven by ongoing anti-regime protests and increasing economic and political pressures over the past few years.

The mass defections come in the wake of at least 30 Iranian athletes seeking asylum in recent years, escaping not only the political repression in Iran, but also specific challenges within the sports sector.

Some issues cited by athletes include corruption within sports federations, the enforced policy of not competing against Israeli athletes and, for women, the mandatory wearing of the hijab during competition.

Having been encouraged to take up the sport as a teenager by her mother, now it is her own daughter she wants to inspire, having faced difficulties being a single mother.

“Ahead of every training session or a competition, I have to organise everything for my nine-year-old daughter and entrust her to someone who will take care of her,” she adds.

“It's not always easy, but I am able to manage that.”

City's slump

L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1

While you're here

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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?

The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg

The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes

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The Intruder

Director: Deon Taylor

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good

One star

UAE currency

UAE gold medallists:

Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.

Killing of Qassem Suleimani

Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead

Jack Moore: Why the assassination is such a monumental gamble

Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks

Damien McElroy: A CEO tasked with spreading Iran's influence

Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground

Simon Waldman: Cautious Israel keeping a low profile

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

88 Video's most popular rentals

Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.

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Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

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Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

HOW TO WATCH

Facebook: TheNationalNews

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TikTok: @thenationalnews

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

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3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

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Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800

Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km

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On Women's Day

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The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS

England v New Zealand

(Saturday, 12pm UAE)

Wales v South Africa

(Sunday, 12pm, UAE)

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Dates for the diary

To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:

September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.

While you're here

Michael Young: Where is Lebanon headed?

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Manchester United's summer dealings

Victor Lindelof (Benfica) £30.7 million

Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75 million

Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £40 million

Out

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Released

Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free transfer

Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9.8 million

More on animal trafficking

Falcon demand driving region's bird smuggling trade

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HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN

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Company%20profile

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Evacuations to France hit by controversy

Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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HAJJAN

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