MDX's Olympic badminton star sets her sights on Los Angeles 2028

Picture by BWF/Badmintonphoto

Dorsa Yavarivafa speaks about her incredible journey from hardship as a refugee to competing at the Olympics and studying at university

A Middlesex University student and talented badminton player who overcome adversity as a refugee to compete in the recent Olympics in Paris has now set her sights on again pitting her skills against the best in the world at Los Angeles 2028.

 “I’m training for the next Olympics which is in three years’ time so it is very soon in my eyes,” Dorsa Yavarivafa, who lives in Colindale, north London. “I’m going to train every day. It’s my dream to go. I’ve never been to America so I would love to make it to LA.”

Dorsa, who is in her Foundation Year of Sports & Exercise Science, secured a prestigious place on the Olympic refugee team as one of just 36 athletes from eleven countries.

Despite being knocked out after two games, she described how it had been an incredible experience taking part alongside so many famous athletes, including the USA Dream Team basketball players LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who she even met during the opening ceremony.

She said: “It was so exciting because I had only even seen LeBron and Stephen Curry on my phone and Instagram. It was emotional because I thought ‘wow you’ve made it, you’re competing with all these incredible athletes. The crowd were going crazy. The atmosphere was amazing and it was unreal, a dream come true. Everyone was so supportive and as a result it literally felt like home.”

The Olympics also proved an invaluable experience in terms of her development for Dorsa with the pressures of playing in front of a big crowd and testing her game against highly-rated stars such as Yeo Jia Min, the 13th seed and former junior world number one from Singapore.

“I had never played in an arena that big and with so many people with a huge hall. It was both amazing and stressful, and I almost had a breakdown before my game. With the roof, the arena was a lot different to the types of place I had normally played in. It was an honour to play against Yeo, she has a lot more experience and I learned a lot from seeing her technique, ability and drop shots which were brilliant. She was very kind as well.”

It is a remarkable journey for Dorsa who fled Iran with her mother in 2015 after being repeatedly rejected for the badminton team without reason. She lived across Europe and was jailed three times before settling in Birmingham, and rediscovering her passion for the sport of badminton thanks to the Beijing 2008 Olympian Kaveh Mehrabi of Iran, who helped her apply to be a part of the Refugee Athlete Scholarship programme.

Looking back Dorsa said: “I never thought I’d play at the Olympics with all that suffering. On the way there was some points when I was losing hope because I couldn’t play badminton and felt like I would need to almost start again. Imagine building yourself and then you stop or keep stop starting, which was really hard and challenging for me but I didn’t give up and kept going. When I heard I was going to the Olympics I immediately started crying and told myself that all that suffering was worth it. All I would say to other refugees in a similar situation is never give up, I know there will be ups and downs but just keep going because anything is possible.”

When she got the call that she had been selected for the Olympic refugee team, Dorsa recalled a phone call with her mum which was a ‘very emotional moment’. She was reunited with her father around eight months ago and the family have settled in north London. In four years they will be able to apply for British citizenship. At the Olympics she told of her added motivation with her parents and aunt from Iran watching in the audience.

Dorsa, who trains at the Sankey Academy, an independent badminton club in Milton Keynes, will continue to compete regularly in tournaments but is also focused on her studies at Middlesex and is even hoping to start a women’s badminton team.

“You always should have a backup plan. For me my first goal is to play badminton and go to LA and the Olympics but on the other side studying is really important to me because I do want to be a physiotherapist in future and so this course will help me a lot. I have been enjoying my time at Middlesex University, they are very kind and helpful and support me. And the facilities are really nice as well.”

Find out more about the Sports & Exercise Science at Middlesex University and the range of courses we offer.