Parfait Hakizimana Explained

Parfait Hakizimana
Birth Place:Burundi
Sport:Para Taekwondo
Event:61 kg
Coach:Zura Mushambokazi

Parfait Hakizimana (born 1988) is a Burundian parataekwondo practitioner who currently resides in Rwanda. He represented the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics[1] in the under 61 kg category.[2]

Life

Hakizimana was born in Burundi and lived in a settlement camp as a child. He was shot in the arm when he was eight in an attack that also killed his mother. His father took him to a hospital where with basic care he recovered over two years.[3] He began learning taekwondo when he was sixteen. Hakizimana credits the sport with improving his outlook. He set up a martial arts club. When he was twenty his father died on a motorbike and he decided to leave the tribal conflict in Burundi.[3]

He emigrated to Rwanda and lives in the Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda. He went on to again teach his martial art skills in the camp.[4]

He began to compete in 2017 and he had some success.[5] Zura Mushambokazi became his coach. She is a national Taekwondo coach.[6] In 2021 he was able to travel to Kigali where he trained at the Amahoro Stadium.[3]

In June 2021, Hakizimana was chosen with four men and a woman to represent refugees at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. The six will be led by the Chef de Mission Ileana Rodriguez who was previously a parathlete swimmer for the US in 2012.[7] The other five are Alia Issa and Ibrahim Al Hussein who are both from Syria and are based in Athens, the American-based Afghan refugee swimmer Abbas Karimi, the German-based Syrian refugee canoeist Anas Al Khalifa, and American based Iranian refugee discus thrower Shahrad Nasajpour.[1] He hoped to win a medal at the paralympics and to return to the refugee camp where he has a young daughter.[5] At the Games, Hakizimana withdrew from the repechage section due to an injury.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Refugees. United Nations High Commissioner for. IPC announces six athletes to compete for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 2021-06-30. UNHCR. en.
  2. Park. Jun-Hee. 2020-01-30. Effect of the Artistic Value and Brand Asset of Taekwondo Performances Perceived by University Taekwondo Demonstration Player's. The World Society of Taekwondo Culture. 26. 85–103. 10.18789/jwstc.2020.26.85. 213012357 . 2233-453X.
  3. Web site: Para taekwondo athlete Parfait Hakizimana teaches hope at Rwandan Refugee Camp. 2021-08-19. Tokyo 2020. en-US.
  4. Web site: 2020-10-27. Refugee taekwondo athlete hopes for more competition chances. 2021-07-02. www.insidethegames.biz.
  5. Web site: Hope keeps heads up for Burundian refugee Paralympic athlete.. 2021-08-19. UNHCR Rwanda. en.
  6. Web site: 2021-04-29. Meet Zura Mushambokazi, first woman head coach of taekwondo national team. 2021-08-19. The New Times Rwanda. en.
  7. Web site: Refugees. United Nations High Commissioner for. IPC announces six athletes to compete for the Refugee Paralympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 2021-06-30. UNHCR. en.
  8. News: Taekwondo kicks its way into Paralympics. Agence France-Presse. France 24. 2 September 2021. 6 September 2021.