Amir Rezanejad Hassanjani (Persian: امیر رضانژاد حسنجانی; born 18 January 2000) is an Iranian slalom canoeist. He competed as part of the IOC Refugee Team at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Early and personal life
Originally from Iran, he started canoeing at the young age of 7 years-old. He initially started with flat water canoeing before switching to canoe slalom. He fled the country in 2020 by walking for 16 days and nights through the mountains which border Iran and Turkey. He eventually settled in Augsburg, Germany where he now lives and trains. He is fluent in Farsi, Turkish, English and German.[2][3]
After a three years away from the sport he received clearance to compete as a refugee athlete in 2023.[5] He began to train with German coach Jurgen Koehler. He made his ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup debut in Augsburg in 2024.[6]