Photo credit: CNN
Adnan Khankan, a judoka, is a Syrian Refugee.
Now aged thirty, he fled his war-torn country as the civil unrest spread, leaving behind his loved ones at the age of twenty-one. He then began a month-long journey toward Europe, travelling by foot and any transportation he could find.
He landed in Germany and started a new life from scratch.
“I always tried not to leave my country because it’s a difficult situation; you lose your family and your dream,” he said. During this time, I had no idea what might happen, but luckily, we arrived in Germany in October.
“I said: ‘Okay, my journey is over. I’m in a safe place. But what am I doing here now?’ – that was even worse than the journey.”
Judo, a sport he had loved since childhood when his father introduced him to it, was about the only thing he could fall back on.
He said, “Judo is a very special sport that comes from Japan and has a lot of values in it. I must always have respect, be courageous and self-confident – I’ve always liked things like that.
“I always noticed (I was) different to others at a young age. I have discipline, and I always have a goal to achieve, to think about what the future holds.”
Judo is a martial art. Martial arts are among the most difficult sports to practice as they involve exceptional physical fitness and a high degree of mental discipline.
Physical and mental fortitude are qualities that are instilled in Adnan. He will be competing as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the Paris Games which begins in a week’s time.
He watched the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics in 2016.
He said, “I knew people who were on the Olympic Refugee Team back then. I met them, and I know them. They were in our sports centre. I cried—you can ask my wife—I cried nonstop because, without this situation (fleeing war), I would probably have had the chance to be in Rio.”
Khankan then decided to chart his way forward in judo. He began training and was awarded an IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship in 2022. He was soon selected for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris.
He has another source of inspiration: boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who defied US government orders to join the military.
He knows that competing at the Paris Games is a matter of extraordinary pride. However, that is not the end of the road for him.
According to him, he would love to feature in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
He would also want to remove the stigma attached to refugees across Europe.
“I would like to – in Germany or Europe in general – change the refugee stereotype,” he said.
