Saman Soltani was sitting in an airport in Barcelona in 2022 preparing to return home when she got a call that turned her life upside down. It was her parents with a warning: Do not come back to Iran.
Soltani was in Spain for an artistic swimming camp. She had posted photos of herself in a bikini on Instagram, and Iran’s morality police were searching for her. She was panicked and stranded. She called her only friend in Europe and flew to meet him in Austria, where she was later granted asylum.
She tried adjusting to her new reality. Her friend urged her to take up kayaking to help stave off depression. She had been on the Iranian national team in the sport and earned a silver medal in a team event in the Asian U-23 championships. Since then, she has won a gold medal at the national championships in Austria among other titles.