Parfait Hakizimana (born 1988) is a Burundian parataekwondo practitioner who currently resides in Rwanda. He represented the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics[1] in the under 61 kg category.[2]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988 (age 36) Burundi |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Para Taekwondo |
| Event | 61 kg |
| Coached by | Zura Mushambokazi |
Life
editHakizimana was born in Burundi and lived in a settlement camp as a child. He was shot in the arm when he was eight in an attack that also killed his mother. His father took him to a hospital where with basic care he recovered over two years.[3] He began learning taekwondo when he was sixteen. Hakizimana credits the sport with improving his outlook. He set up a martial arts club. When he was twenty his father died on a motorbike and he decided to leave the tribal conflict in Burundi.[3]
He emigrated to Rwanda and lives in the Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda. He went on to again teach his martial art skills in the camp.[4]
He began to compete in 2017 and he had some success.[5] Zura Mushambokazi became his coach. She is a national Taekwondo coach.[6] In 2021 he was able to travel to Kigali where he trained at the Amahoro Stadium.[3]
In June 2021, Hakizimana was chosen with four men and a woman to represent refugees at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. The six will be led by the Chef de Mission Ileana Rodriguez who was previously a parathlete swimmer for the US in 2012.[1] The other five are Alia Issa and Ibrahim Al Hussein who are both from Syria and are based in Athens, the American-based Afghan refugee swimmer Abbas Karimi, the German-based Syrian refugee canoeist Anas Al Khalifa, and American based Iranian refugee discus thrower Shahrad Nasajpour.[1] He hoped to win a medal at the paralympics and to return to the refugee camp where he has a young daughter.[5] At the Games, Hakizimana withdrew from the repechage section due to an injury.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "IPC announces six athletes to compete for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games". UNHCR. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ Park, Jun-Hee (30 January 2020). "Effect of the Artistic Value and Brand Asset of Taekwondo Performances Perceived by University Taekwondo Demonstration Player's". The World Society of Taekwondo Culture. 26: 85–103. doi:10.18789/jwstc.2020.26.85. ISSN 2233-453X. S2CID 213012357.
- ^ a b c "Para taekwondo athlete Parfait Hakizimana teaches hope at Rwandan Refugee Camp". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Refugee taekwondo athlete hopes for more competition chances". www.insidethegames.biz. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Hope keeps heads up for Burundian refugee Paralympic athlete". UNHCR Rwanda. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Meet Zura Mushambokazi, first woman head coach of taekwondo national team". The New Times | Rwanda. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Taekwondo kicks its way into Paralympics". Agence France-Presse. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021 – via France 24.