National taekwondo champion Eisa Mozhdeh is heartbroken after a series of conflicting messages between governing bodies has abruptly ended his chances of securing a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Despite securing Olympic qualification, the Iranian-born New Zealand citizen has been told he won’t be going to Paris for the Games because Taekwondo New Zealand (TNZ) is not a member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) because of their inappropriate agreements, policies and legal processes.
After four years of dedicating himself to training for Paris, under-68kg competitor Mozhdeh told the Herald since hearing the news: “It’s been extremely challenging to keep training, stay focused, all the mental challenges and everything.”
“I’ve had the hardest time in my life last two months with dealing with all of that.”
Mozhdeh, a fifth-dan black belt, came to Aotearoa five years ago and was given early citizenship specifically to be able to represent the country in the sport at the Olympics. He’s gone on to win multiple national titles.
Mozhdeh wasn’t officially made aware of his Olympic fate until February 8 this year after he reached out to the NZOC.
In documents obtained by the Herald, the NZOC told Mozhdeh he had not been submitted to any long list for Paris 2024 because the governing body is not eligible to be included.
“Taekwondo NZ is not a member of the NZOC and as such, does not have the appropriate agreements, policies and agreed legal process for athletes to take part in in order to be selected to the next Olympic Games,” the documents read.
“As such, we regret to inform you that the NZOC is therefore not able to accept any quotas for Paris 2024. Taekwondo NZ was asked prior to selection of the team to ensure athletes were aware of this. We are disappointed if Taekwondo New Zealand has not been clearer to you at this time. Finally, we are not able to select any New Zealand athletes as an independent/individual athlete under these circumstances.”
Meanwhile, TNZ has consistently maintained the idea that Mozhdeh would still be able to compete, and to this day he is still waiting to hear official confirmation that is no longer the case.
An email from a TNZ staffer sent to Mozhder’s partner Stella on October 18, 2023 stated: “It’s been a long process to gain NZOC membership and we are near the closing stages and hopeful that within the next month we will achieve our goal.
“As far as athletes having an ability to be selected and attend the Olympics, this can still be achieved via the athlete (rather than a non-member national sporting organisation).
“This has always been the case and if TNZ were unsuccessful in our membership application, we would continue to support the application of any athlete in a position for Olympic selection.”
On February 23, the Oceania Taekwondo Union posted to Facebook acknowledging TNZ were sending athletes to compete at the Oceania Olympic qualification event, despite knowing where the organisation stood with the NZOC.
“The New Zealand Olympic committee will not nominate any Taekwondo athlete to compete at the Paris Olympic games as there is no organisation that is recognised for the sport of Taekwondo in New Zealand,” the union said.
“We are compelled to publish this announcement because in light of the announcement made by Taekwondo New Zealand, athletes may be under the misapprehension that they are eligible to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games when in fact they are not.”
Taekwondo New Zealand – 2024 Oceania Olympic Qualification On 30 January 2024, Taekwondo New Zealand posted a notice...
Posted by Oceania Taekwondo Union on Friday 23 February 2024
Mozhdeh won gold at the Oceania Olympic Qualifier Tournament last week in Honiara, Solomon Islands - an event he still attended with his Paris fate being decided after he had booked the trip.
Meanwhile, Mozhdeh received an email from Kwon New Zealand - the supposed sponsorship partner for Kiwi taekwondo athletes - on March 5 with a breakdown of the gear he is set to receive for the Olympics.
Mozhdeh is hoping there could be away to compete as neutral athlete, not under the New Zealand flag. He’s reached out to World Taekwondo to begin this process and has approached the NZOC for a letter of support.
“We’ve seen five other athletes for this Olympic[s] in Paris who are going as a neutral flag and those athletes are from Ukraine and Russia, Belarus in their case, the reason they’re going, it’s because there is a war and the athletes have no control over that,” said Mozhdeh.
“In my case right now, we could argue basically the same case cause it’s something completely out of my control.”
The World Taekwondo Oceania selections are set to be confirmed for Paris on April 22, meaning Mozhdeh and his family are holding out hope something will happen before then.
Mozhdeh told the Herald the ruling is particularly hard to take because of the commitment he’s given to representing the country.
“I’ve been training three to four times a day for the past few years really non-stop and sacrificed so much,” he added.
“I basically had no social life, everything was around taekwondo and making it to the Olympics and I made that clear right at the start as well. That was my ultimate goal.
He said his dedication has cost him tens of thousands of dollars as the sport in New Zealand is completely self-funded. Mozhdeh said if he found out sooner, he may have reconsidered his dedication to training for Paris.
“If TNZ or NZOC knew from 2022, [and] if they were just honest and told the athletes, whatever the truth was, I wouldn’t have to go through any of that.
“I actually postponed my wedding for a year. My parents wanted to come to New Zealand to visit me last year and I told them not to... I cancelled all those holidays with them because I couldn’t have much social life.
“After making all those sacrifices and working so hard to achieve Olympic qualification, I would love to be able to compete in Paris.” he said.
The NZOC told the Herald in a statement: ”We know how hard New Zealand taekwondo athletes have been training and how committed they are to their chosen sport. The road to the Olympic Games is long and extremely challenging and every four years only a very small percentage of athletes achieve their dream of selection.
“Unfortunately, Taekwondo NZ has not been a member federation of the NZOC which means Taekwondo athletes have not been able to work within NZOC’s legal nomination and selection framework. As such, they cannot be selected to the New Zealand team by the NZOC, as would usually be the case.
“It is important to note that winning a quota spot is only part of the process to achieving New Zealand Olympic team selection and it is not uncommon for quota spots to be returned to international federations.
“The NZOC has been supporting Taekwondo athletes in making inquiries to see if a direct pathway to the Olympic Games through World Taekwondo might be possible.
“This challenging situation must be a catalyst for Taekwondo New Zealand to bring the community together, and create a high-performance pathway to ensure these opportunities can be proactively managed for the benefit of the athletes and the sport.”
Taekwondo New Zealand did not respond to requests for comments.
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a keen footballer, passionate about women’s sport and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
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