AICHI-NAGOYA, Japan (Oct. 2, 2026) – Talah Al Hassan Al Hinide and Mahmoud Al Jasem Al Mohammad Al Hussein made history at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games as the first athletes to represent the Asian Refugee Team (ART).
The two Syrian Taekwondo athletes, who live in the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, competed in Kyorugi on Oct. 2. Talah contested W-49kg, while Mahmoud competed in M -80kg.
Both saw their campaigns end in the Round of 16, but their appearance on the Asian Games stage represented a remarkable milestone in journeys that began in a refugee camp.
Talah discovered Taekwondo while struggling with the uncertainty of life as a refugee. What began with hesitation gradually gave her confidence and a renewed sense of possibility.
“Taekwondo became much more than a sport. It became my window to hope,” Talah said. “It gave me the opportunity to dream again and to believe that being a refugee does not define or limit my future.”
Mahmoud began Taekwondo in Azraq in 2016 after leaving Syria. He was among the early participants in a programme supported by the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), and over the following decade the sport became an important source of purpose and self-belief.
“For the first time, I felt that I could achieve something and that my future could be brighter than I had imagined,” Mahmoud said.
Talah also expressed her gratitude to the THF, World Taekwondo President and THF Chairman Dr Chungwon Choue, WT Council Member Maher Magableh, and those who have supported refugee athletes through Taekwondo, saying their support had allowed her to continue pursuing a better future.
Aichi-Nagoya 2026 marks the first time the Olympic Council of Asia has fielded a refugee team at the Asian Games, with Talah and Mahmoud its two athletes.
Their Asian Games campaigns ended without a medal, but their presence carried a significance beyond the results.
From discovering Taekwondo in the Azraq Refugee Camp to competing on one of Asia’s biggest sporting stages, Talah and Mahmoud have shown how sport can create opportunity, confidence and hope in the most difficult circumstances.
Both now hope to continue their journeys towards another goal: competing on the Olympic stage as refugee athletes.
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