Asian Runner-Up; A Porter with Olympic Dreams

The runner-up of the 2014 Asian Cross Country Championship hosted in Japan is now working as a porter to support his family. Taha Ghafari, from the village of Chur in the Marivan district, has become a champion of Iran's middle-distance running and has reached the Asian podium. Recently, however, he has made headlines not for his sports achievements but for images of him working as a porter in difficult border areas. Photos published by ILNA news agency have circulated on social media. He states that to buy a pair of specialized running shoes, he has to carry two loads from the mountains, but he has no choice and does it out of necessity. Taha Ghafari's name became known in the early 2010s due to his brilliance in national championships held in Qazvin. He told Fars News that they were not in a good financial situation. Living away from family to continue his studies in a rented house was tough, but he persevered for his goal of Asian and global success. In 2013, he won first place in a national competition known as 'Snow and Cold' to qualify for the Asian competitions, where he stood on the second team podium. The reward for this success was four coins, which he had to give to creditors at that time. He mentioned that he faced significant psychological pressure during competitions and lost good records due to the overlap of work with training, preventing him from achieving desired results. Nevertheless, he succeeded again in two international events in Iraq and Iran, bringing his total to 30 national and international medals. The director of sports and youth in Kurdistan provided him with dormitory accommodation due to his studies and lack of income, but Ghafari's situation was too difficult for him to continue professional sports. He says, 'People like me, who worry about bread, need serious support. How many champions does Marivan have? Here, we have a council, a municipality, a member of parliament, and a governor who could create opportunities for people like me to become globally recognized, but they have not provided the slightest support.' Ghafari has studied up to an associate degree in physical education but has been forced to abandon his studies due to financial problems and family needs. He stated, 'Over the years, I have done every hard job you can imagine, from labor to anything else. With the meager income, I continued my sports training, but the fatigue from hard labor left me with little energy for training.' When asked why he turned to portering, Ghafari replied, 'Portering is not a job; it is a necessity I chose for my family's bread. There are no other jobs in border areas unless you have capital for buying and selling. I do not want to extend my hand to anyone. A champion has pride and does not want to be trampled.' The Asian runner-up has prevented his younger brother from participating in sports due to financial problems. Nevertheless, he still dreams of the Olympics and wants to strive for Iran's success. Under the supervision of Abubakr Rawand, he runs 30 kilometers a day and 200 kilometers a week to prepare for endurance races, but sometimes he misses training due to portering at the border.