Mohammad Abbas Karimi (; born 1997) is a swimmer, who came second in the S5 50 meter

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

event at the

2017 World Para Swimming Championships The 2017 World Para Swimming Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Mexico City, Mexico and took place from 2 to 7 December. Around 304 athletes from around 70 different countries com ...

, making him the first refugee athlete to win a medal at that competition. He came eighth in the 50 meter butterfly S5 event for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Since 2022, Karimi competes for the US team. He was part of the US team that won the medley relay event at the

2022 World Para Swimming Championships The 2022 World Para Swimming Championships was the 11th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Madeira from 12 to 18 June. The competition was origin ...

. He has won national championship events in Afghanistan, Turkey and the US.

Personal life

Karimi was born in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

, Afghanistan, and had no arms from birth. His family is of

Hazara Hazara may refer to: Ethnic groups * The Hazaras, a Persian-speaking people of Afghanistan and Pakistan * Aimaq Hazara, Aimaq's subtribe of Hazara origin * Hazarawals, a Hindko-speaking people of the Hazara region of northern Pakistan * Hazar ...

descent, and his father died in 2019. One of his brothers lives in Australia, and Karimi did not see him from 2013 until 2021. After the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

, Karimi's family relocated from Afghanistan to Pakistan. At the age of 16, Karimi fled Afghanistan, to escape the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...

. In 2013, he arrived at a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced pe ...

in Turkey, having traveled through Iran and the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

. He lived in four different refugee camps in Turkey. In 2016, Karimi moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, US, after being assisted by an American teacher and the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

with his documentation for resettlement in the US. In 2019, he moved to

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. In 2022, Karimi became a

naturalized American citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

Career

At the age of 12, Karimi took up

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gen ...

. Aged 13, he took up swimming. His first competitive competition was an Afghan national championships, which he won. Whilst in Turkey, he won two national championships, and a total of 15 medals. He was unable to participate in international tournaments whilst in Turkish refugee camps, as he didn't have the correct documentation to travel. At the

, Karimi won a silver medal in the S5 50 meter

event. He was the first refugee athlete to win a medal at a

World Para Swimming Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

. At the Championships, he also finished sixth in the S5

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimme ...

event. In 2018, he won the 50 meter

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

event at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Para National Championships. At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships is the 2019 edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five continen ...

, he came sixth in the 50 meter butterfly event. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, he was unable to swim for several months, as all swimming pools were closed. In 2021, Karimi competed in the US Paralympic Trials in the 50 meter butterfly, backstroke and freestyle events. In April 2021, he won a World Para Swimming Series S5 50 meter butterfly event in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, US. In June, he was included in the Refugee Paralympic Team for the delayed

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

. Karimi and Alia Issa were the Refugee Paralympic Team's flag bearers at the Games' opening ceremony. He competed in the 50 meter butterfly S5 event, where he qualified for the final, and finished eighth overall. He also competed in the 50 meter backstroke S5 event, where he finished last in his heat. Karimi won the 2021 USMS Long Course National Championship 200 meter backstroke and 200 meter butterfly events. In 2022, he won the 50 meters butterfly event at the Indianapolis World Series. At the

, Karimi competed for the US team. He finished ninth in the heats of the 50 meter freestyle event. He also finished fourth overall in the

50 meter backstroke 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

and 50 meter butterfly events. He was part of the US team that won the medley relay in a world record time, alongside

Elizabeth Marks Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks (born August 7, 1990) is an American Paralympic swimmer who specializes in the 100m breaststroke distance. Early life Marks was born to James Marks, a U.S. Marine veteran who served during the Vietnam Wa ...

, Rudy Garcia-Tolson and Leanne Smith.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karimi, Abbas 1997 births Living people Afghan refugees Refugees in the United States Afghan male swimmers Sportspeople from Kabul Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships S5-classified Paralympic swimmers American male swimmers Naturalized citizens of the United States