The white flag with its intertwined rings in blue, black, red, yellow and green waved for Amir Ansari that Saturday afternoon on July 27, 2024.
The cyclist, who fled Afghanistan for Sweden in 2015, made his Olympic debut in Paris, competing for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.
At first, I couldn't believe that I was part of a team representing 120 million people on the run. The experience was absolutely amazing, and I was very proud, says Amir Ansari, who finished 30th in the time trial.
Oppressed ethnic group
Ansari had risked his life to achieve his dream: competing in the Olympics.
Growing up outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, his family belonged to the oppressed Hazara ethnic group.
Many died because of explosions targeting my people. Therefore, the family decided that I should be sent away to have a chance to survive and start over somewhere else. Dad had already passed away, but it was very difficult to leave my mother and my three siblings.
At just 16, he fled through Iran, Turkey and Greece to Sweden. He was often in the hands of people smugglers.
I feared for my life the whole time. I was afraid of being shot or drowning, as there were 30 of us in a rubber boat with room for ten people between Turkey and Greece. If I had fallen into the water, I would have died because I couldn't swim.
Undocumented
In Sweden, Amir Ansari's asylum application was rejected, and the deportation decision left him undocumented for five years. Despite the legal uncertainty, he ended up with a Swedish family in Tierp and was helped by Stockholm CK to take up cycling.
Unfortunately, I have had to get used to living in a kind of limbo, where I don't know what will happen in the future. I was most depressed in 2017 when I received my second deportation decision and considered taking my own life.
He received his first temporary residence permit only at the end of 2022. During that difficult time, cycling became his salvation. His success in the sport helped him secure a contract with the Swedish professional team Lucky Sport Cycling Team, which he combined with his civil engineering studies at Uppsala University.
In addition, the 27-year-old met a woman to whom he is engaged.
Dropped by the professional team
Still, the situation is far from settled. Recently, he received short notice that there would be no new contract with the team. Being part of a professional team is essentially a prerequisite for being allowed to compete abroad.
But there is another opportunity to race internationally - and I just found out that I have been selected for it. It is a program run by the World Cycling Center (WCC) in France, where cyclists from different countries get the chance to live, train, develop and compete together.
The hunt for a new professional team continues. But even more important is securing an extended residence permit. His current one expires in the fall of 2027.
One dream is to become a Swedish citizen and escape the uncertain existence.
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