Abbas Karimi

Born in Afghanistan without arms, Abbas Karimi grew up facing discrimination and bullying for his disability. But he found freedom and belonging in swimming, first learning to swim in the rivers of Kabul. At 16, he fled the ongoing violence and insecurity in Afghanistan and moved between refugee camps in Turkey. Later, he resettled in the United States with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, first in Oregon and then Florida.

“I needed to be somewhere I could be safe and keep training and be a Paralympic champion,” he told The New York Times. “When I left Afghanistan, that was with me, that idea of what I’m going to be.”

Karimi is now a Paralympic swimmer with numerous national and international medals. In 2017, he won silver in the 50-meter butterfly at the World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City, becoming the first refugee athlete to medal at that competition. He later competed in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as part of the International Paralympic Committee’s Refugee Paralympic Team and was one of the team’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony. In 2022, Karimi became a U.S. citizen and went on to represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he won two silver medals in mixed relay events.

Karimi has also become a powerful advocate for refugees and athletes with disabilities. As he wrote in The Guardian in 2022, “I set out on a journey that would break down barriers and show others that people with disabilities can be active and can fulfill their potential.”

Published June 2026