On the 27th, the 4th day of the Tokyo Paralympics, there is a refugee player from Afghanistan who took part in the race with his feelings for his late father in mind.
Abbas Karimi of the refugee team is 24 years old from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and has no arms since he was born.
I had a dream of becoming a top swimmer in swimming, which I started at the age of 13, but Karimi is a minority Hazaras who has been the target of discrimination and persecution in Afghanistan for many years, and terrorist incidents by armed groups have occurred one after another. As a result, he left his family at the age of 16 and went into exile in Turkey.
After that, he went to the United States at the invitation of a coach who offered to help him, but he was quietly informed that his father, who lives in Afghanistan, died of illness.
Karimi, who couldn't witness the death of his father, who was more pleased with his success than anyone else, overcame his sadness and devoted himself to practice, and was selected for the first time as a member of the refugee team to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics.
Karimi passed the qualifying round and advanced to the final at the men's 50m butterfly on the 27th, saying, "I want to show my deceased father a medal."
Then, in the final, he jumped in from the start and chased the leading Chinese with a powerful kick, but finished 8th with a time of 38.16 seconds.
Still, Karimi hasn't given up on his dream, with his father's words, "I thought you would be special from the time I was born."
In addition, the Taliban, an armed group in their hometown of Afghanistan, has seized power and many are eager to "stand on the podium and please refugees around the world" as they try to flee abroad.
For his father, and for many refugees who are still in trouble, Karimi aims to win the long-sought medal in a 50-meter backstroke on the 30th.