Saeid Mollaei sacrificed a lifetime for a dream. He did it of his own free will and he did it in Japan at a place called the Budokan. Fate has reasons that reason does not know, but when it pays justice it has an unmistakable flavour. Today is the birthday of Saeid who turns 30.
In 2019 Tokyo was the scene of a bad action, espionage and suspense movie, whose main actor was Mollaei. Bad because when politics penetrates the field of sport things usually end badly and sometimes very badly. Mollaei’s sin was not being born in Iran. His sin was not accepting orders and his penance was an ordeal that cost him much more than a person can bear, because to be free he had to renounce everything. The story is well known. What is little known, because it has not been offered, is Mollaei’s life between 2019 and 2021.
“It was the hardest decision of my life because it meant giving up my life in order to compete as a normal person.” Normality, that condition that is only understood once lost. Saeid rebuilt his life with parsimony and a non-negotiable goal: the Tokyo Olympics. “That’s why I left Iran and that’s why I haven’t seen my family since 2019: to be here.” Little by little, “step by step,” as he puts it, Saeid raised his head from under the water in Germany, where he has lived ever since. “I barely spoke German. I was afraid of possible reprisals from the Iranian regime, not only for me, but for my wife and of course, my parents and brothers, who are still in Iran.” Saeid has had to learn to look over his shoulder and resume his Olympic preparation. They are periods of four years, five this time. Any little misstep can cost a medal because judoka plan complex but necessary cycles to get to the peak on the right day. He also received a Mongolian passport, which has allowed him to participate in the race to Tokyo.
“It was not the ideal preparation, quite the opposite. I’ve never lost hope because I knew I could get a good result in Japan.” Mollaei took a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Saeid slept that night with the silver medal. “I have spent half the night kissing the medal.”
Other birthdays
Nihel Cheikh Rouhou of Tunisia turns 35. She won countless African titles and major titles such as Grand Prix Samsun in 2014. Coached by 2001 World Champion Anis Lounifi. She won the All African Games in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Nihel competed four times at the Olympic Games and claimed 24 World Cup medals including three victories. Cheikh Rouhou took bronze at the IJF Judo Masters in Doha last year.
Brazilian judoka Phelipe Pelim (32) won 6 bronze World Cup medals in the Pan American area and bronze at the Grand Prix in Düsseldorf in 2015. Pelim won bronze at the FISU Universiade in Gwangju U60kg. At the European Open in Glasgow he took the gold in 2016. He won bronze at the Grand Prix in Düsseldorf in 2017. He won the Pan American Open in Lima and Santiago in 2017 and silver at the Grand Prix in Cancun. He claimed bronze at the Grand Prix in Tbilisi in 2017.
Maki Tsukada (40) is the 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic heavyweight finallist against Tong Wen. She won 4 World Championships medals and was 2007 World Champion open class. In 2000 she was Junior World Champion. Maki Tsukada (JPN) was number 1 of the IJF World Ranking for seniors O78kg in 2010.
French judoka Luka Mkheidze (26) took bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He took silver at the European Championships in 2021 in Lisbon. He won silver at the African Open in Casablanca and he took the victory at the Belgian Open in Vise both in 2017. Luka claimed a silver medal at the 2018 Grand Prix in Cancun. He bagged a bronze medal at the European Open in Cluj Napoca in 2019. He claimed a bronze medal at the European Open in Luxembourg in 2019. He claimed a bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Tashkent in 2021.
David Kevkishvili (39) won 5 European medals 2002-2007, all U73kg and was 5th at the World Championships in 2007 in Rio. He ranked 7th at the Olympic Games in Athens. With Georgia he won the European team title in 2002 and World titles in 2006 and 2008. President of the Georgian Judo Federation.
Another African heavyweight Hortence Vanessa Mballa Atangana from Cameroon turned 30. She took bronze at the Grand Slam in Düsseldorf in 2020. In 2011 she moved to Rouen in France. She surprisingly won the African Championships title in 2016 in Tunis U78kg and Open category. She took a silver medal at the Grand Prix in The Hague in 2018 as first athlete of Cameroon winning a medal in the IJF World Tour. She clinched a bronze medal at the Grand Prix in Marrakech in 2019. She took silver at the African Games in Rabat in 2019 and bagged a bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Antalya in 2021.
Serbian judoka Strahinja Buncic (26) took a silver medal at the European Open in Belgrade in 2017 and 2016 and bronze in 2018. He took a bronze medal at the European Cup in Sarajevo in 2017. He took a bronze medal at European U23 Championships in 2017 held in Podgorica. He took bronze in the Champions League in 2019 with Red Star Belgrade and silver in the Champions League in Paris in 2021.