Inspiring MDX badminton star competed at Paris Olympics in refugee team

Dorsa Yavarivafa has had a remarkable journey after facing hardship when she fled Iran with her mother

An inspirational Middlesex University student, who fled Iran with her mother, competed at the Olympics Games as part of the largest ever refugee team.

Badminton star Dorsa Yavarivafa, who is on the BSc Sports and Exercise Science programme, is one of 36 refugee athletes from 11 countries competing. In her first match, Dorsa fell 21-7, 21-8 in her Group I meeting with Yeo Jia Min, the 13th seed and former junior world number one from Singapore. She was eliminated after losing her second match to Kate Ludik of Mauritius by 21-5, 21-11.

Dorsa faced hardship when she left Iran in 2015 because her mother wanted to change religion and she had been repeatedly rejected by the national badminton team without reason. They moved to Germany, France, and Belgium, during which time Dorsa would be jailed three times, before eventually settling in Birmingham in 2019.

"I was really scared because I didn't know what was going to happen to me,” said Dorsa, who turned 21 in July.

At a young age, Dorsa’s dad had introduced her to badminton and he stayed in Iran in case his daughter and wife returned. Six months ago, Dorsa was reunited with her father after five years in what she described as “such an emotional moment”.

In Iran, Dorsa had been playing professionally since the age of 11 and revitalised her passion for the sport in the UK. Her former coach put her in touch with Beijing 2008 Olympian Kaveh Mehrabi of Iran, who helped her apply to be a part of the Refugee Athlete Scholarship programme. She now trains three times a week at the Sankey Academy, an independent badminton club in Milton Keynes, and chose to study at the London Sport Institute at MDX, based at the StoneX Saracen’s Rugby ground, because of the ‘great community, facilities and staff’.

“My parents were really proud when we heard that I got accepted. We were all crying, just really a relief, a relief of anxiety. It was an amazing moment. It was all worth it. Now, that I think back about it - all that suffering is over so I'm really happy now."

Dorsa Yavarivafa, Olympic Refugee Team

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced its first refugee team at the Rio 2016 Games with 10 athletes to raise awareness of the issue as hundreds of thousands of people were pouring into Europe from the Middle East and elsewhere, escaping conflict and poverty.

Dorsa hopes to gain valuable experience from the Olympics and in particular meet her idols such as Spain’s Carolina Marin, who won gold at Rio 2016.

When asked what it meant to be part of the refugee team, Dorsa said she has a message for the world's 100 million refugees: "You're not alone. It doesn't matter where you come from. Doesn't matter where are you living now, dreams come true.

"Not many people look at us as a normal people. We are normal. We are normal people like everyone else."

The London Sport Institute leadership team, consisting of Chris Bishop (Interim Head of Department) and Jon Cree (Undergraduate Director of Programmes) said: “We’re all extremely proud of Dorsa and all she has accomplished, to get to the Olympic Games this summer. The adversity she has faced throughout her life makes this an all-the-more inspiring achievement and we wish her all the best in Paris.”

Find out more about studying Sports and Exercise Science at Middlesex University.