Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Says She Has Defected

Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Says She Has Defected
Kimia Alizadeh who became the first Iranian woman ever to win an Olympic medal, shows her medal upon her arrival at Imam Khomeini International Airport Tehran, on Aug. 26, 2016. Peyman/AFP via Getty Images
|Updated:

DUBAI—Iran’s only female Olympic medalist has said on social media she had left her homeland because she had had enough of being used by its authorities as a propaganda tool.

Taekwondo champion Kimia Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, implied in an Instagram post that she had moved to Europe. She wrote on an account she has used for some time, but it was not immediately possible to verify her location.