Abbas Karimi, a former refugee from Afghanistan received the gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly competition at the prestigious “Swimming World Series” swimming tournament held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Friday.
This is not the first time Karimi has achieved such a remarkable feat; he also claimed the gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly race at the state of Indianapolis last year.
At present, Karimi is a refugee in the United States and competes in sporting events as a citizen of the United States. Karimi previously represented Afghanistan on the international stage and won numerous gold medals for the country. His triumphs earned him the moniker of the “Golden Boy of Afghanistan.”
Abbas Karimi’s swimming journey, according to MySwimPro, looks very different from that of a typical elite athlete. Born without arms, Abbas fled his home country of Afghanistan at 16 and found a new home in the United States that helped him become one of the world’s top Para swimmers.
At the age of 16, Abbas chose to leave Afghanistan alone. He traveled through Iran’s Zagros mountains and lived in four different refugee camps in Turkey before making his way to the United States in 2022.
