Olympics-Taekwondo-World body chief sets hopes for refugee medal in Paris

A World Taekwondo official shows a video of Syrian refugee Wael Al Faraj watching a taekwondo match on TV from Jordan's Azraq refugee camp, at an Olympic venue in Chiba, Japan, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Chang-Ran Kim

CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) - An Iranian taekwondo athlete narrowly missed winning a historic first medal for the Refugee Olympic Team on Sunday but the head of the sport's governing body already has his sights set on a young Syrian refugee for the big stage in Paris 2024.

That honour belongs to 18-year-old Wael Al Faraj, who rapidly worked his way up to a respectable third-dan black belt since beginning to train in 2016 at the academy in Jordan's Azraq camp conceived by the head of World Taekwondo.