Story script and Shot log

THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) OFFERS THE FOLLOWING VIDEO NEWS RELEASE TO ALL NEWS AGENCIES, BROADCASTERS AND ALL ONLINE PLATFORMS FREE OF CHARGE

STORY HEADLINE: Germany-based Iranian refugee Kimia Alizadeh selected for IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020

DATE: 8 June 2021 LOCATION: Germany COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: LANGUAGE: English Broadcast quality footage available at the IOC Newsroom: http://iocnewsroom.com

STORY SCRIPT: Iranian refugee Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi will compete in at her second Olympics in Tokyo 2020, this time for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

Alizadeh won an historic bronze medal for her country in the Rio 2016 Olympics in the - 57kg category, but decided to leave Iran in 2020, questioning the treatment of female athletes in the country on her Instagram account.

She is now training and living in Germany with her husband, as one of 58 athletes currently supported by the IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship programme.

KImia has won multiple medals in International competitions, including gold in the in Nanjing 2014, and bronze and silver medals at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2017 and 2017 respectively.

The 29-member IOC Refugee Olympic team (EOR)* initiative at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a continuation of the IOC’s commitment to play its part in addressing the global refugee crisis, and another opportunity to continue to convey the message of solidarity and hope to millions of refugees and internally displaced athletes around the world.

*The IOC Refugee Olympic Team will compete in Tokyo under the French acronym EOR which stands for Equipe Olympique des Réfugiés.

SHOTLIST: 00:02 Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi walking into the Taekwondo martial arts studio 00:08 Kimia plaiting her hair before training 00:13 Kimia stretching on the mat 00:19 Wide shot of Kimia stretching

00:23 SOUNDBITE: Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), Tokyo 2020, Taekwondo (English Language). Q. When did you realise that you had a talent for Taekwondo?

Château de Vidy, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland | Tel +41 21 621 6111 | Fax +41 21 621 6356 | www.olympic.org

Story script and Shot log Press release

“When I was eight years old, my mother told me you're good. You can be a champion in our country, not in the world. And my coach told me, yes, you are really talented in Taekwondo, you can be a good athlete in Taekwondo.”

00:43 Close up Kimia side profile 00:48 Close up Kimia warming up her hands.

00:55 SOUNDBITE: Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), Tokyo 2020, Taekwondo (English Language). Q. When did you win your first medal? “I lost my first competition, second competition but suddenly, in my third competition I got a Gold medal in Junior World Championships and that was wow! Because nobody had gotten this medal in my country. And I was the first female in Taekwondo and who had got a medal in the World Championships. And I say I did something nobody had done. I can continue. I can do it again.”

01:31 Kimia kicking high up in the air

01:41 SOUNDBITE: Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), Tokyo 2020, Taekwondo (English Language). Q. Why did you leave your home country? “The reason why we decided to emigrate to Germany was, I'm not really comfortable in my country, and I just want to be a free woman.”

01:51 overlaid wide shot of Kimia kicking a punch bag 01:58 overlaid close up of Kimia kicking a punch bag

02:07 SOUNDBITE: Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), Tokyo 2020, Taekwondo (English Language). Q. How is your life different now? “Sport here is really different from when I was in Iran, because here there's not any pressure on me and I can train. I can have my personal life, personal life, and I enjoy my training.”

02:29 Kimia lying on the floor kicking the punchbag 02:33 Kimia reflected in the mirror kicking the punch bag

02:41 SOUNDBITE: Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi, IOC Refugee Olympic Team (EOR), Tokyo 2020, Taekwondo (English Language). Q. What motivates you? “When I am in hard training. I say, yes, you can do it because you're strong, you can show the people how strong you are or how strong our girl athletes and especially the refugee athletes in this hard life!”

03:00 Kimia collecting her bag and walking out of the martial arts studio.

-- ENDS --

© Copyright International Olympic Committee 2021. This content is the exclusive property of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). IOC-VNRs are for bona fide news reporting purposes only and all rights required for their production have been cleared. Terms and Conditions of the IOC Newsroom and olympics.com com apply.

Page 2/3

Château de Vidy, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland | Tel +41 21 621 6111 | Fax +41 21 621 6356 | www.olympic.org

Story script and Shot log Press release

For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: Tel: +41 21 621 6000, email: [email protected], or visit our web site at www.olympics.com

Page 3/3

Château de Vidy, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland | Tel +41 21 621 6111 | Fax +41 21 621 6356 | www.olympic.org