Born in Afghanistan, Farid Walizadeh is no stranger to fighting uphill battles. He fled the war in his hometown when he was only seven, traveling by foot through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey. In Istanbul, he spent time in a refugee orphanage, and began practicing taekwondo and kung-fu there to protect himself against bullies.
“I was alone and didn't have anyone to defend me,” he said.
He held strong to his fighting spirit, and in 2012, the UN Refugee Agency helped him to find a new home in Portugal. Once again, he took up sport, this time in the form of boxing, which helped him to process his emotions.
“After some time, sport became my life and gave me the hope and power to change my life and become a better version of myself—it became my therapy to get away from stress and anxiety.”
His dream became bigger and bigger, yet remained realistic: “I know that I’m going to fall down a lot of times, but I am going to stand up once again because of the power of my dream.”
A year after settling in Portugal, Farid won the 2013 Portuguese National Champion title in the -57kg category and was awarded the Human Rights Prize by the Portuguese Parliament. Since then, he has continued to train rigorously, becoming a world-class athlete in featherweight boxing. In 2023, Farid competed at the European Games in Poland as part of the EOC Refugee Team, and earlier this year, he participated in the 2024 World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournaments in Italy and Thailand.
“After losing everything I also lost hope, but [boxing] has given me the confidence to hope once again,” he told InfoMigrants. “ Every morning when I wake up at 5am to train I think, ‘just one day more to show I can do it.’”
The 27-year-old has his sights set on the 2028 Olympics, though his dreams reach far beyond the world of sport. Currently studying architecture at Lusíada University in Lisbon, Farid hopes to use his learnings to one day rebuild the homes destroyed by war in Afghanistan and other countries, and to help people find peace wherever they live.
He fights, both in and out of the ring, to inspire refugees around the world to believe in themselves and never give up, no matter their circumstances.
“With every darkness there’s a light,” Farid said. “Every day the night comes, but the next day the light will come back.”
