<p>Iran's only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh announced Saturday she has permanently left her country, citing the "hypocrisy" of a system she claims humiliates athletes while using them for political ends.</p>.<p>"Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?" she wrote on Instagram, as Iran reeled from Wednesday's accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 people onboard.</p>.<p>Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, cited oppression by authorities in the Islamic republic.</p>.<p>Criticising Iran's political system for "hypocrisy", "lying", "injustice" and "flattery", she said she wanted nothing more than "taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life".</p>.<p>"I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran with whom they have been playing for years," the 21-year-old wrote.</p>.<p>"I wore whatever they told me to wear," she said, referring to the Islamic veil, which is compulsory for all women in public in Iran.</p>.<p>"I repeated everything they told me to say," she wrote.</p>.<p>She continued: "None of us matter to them."</p>.<p>"No one invited me to Europe," she wrote, without saying where she was.</p>.<p>On Thursday, news of Alizadeh's disappearance shocked the country.</p>.<p>Iranian parliamentarian Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh had demanded answers, accusing "incompetent officials" of allowing Iran's "human capital to flee" the country.</p>.<p>The semi-official ISNA news agency carried a report on Thursday saying: "Shock for Iran's taekwondo. Kimia Alizadeh has emigrated to The Netherlands."</p>.<p>ISNA wrote that it believed that Alizadeh, who is reportedly training in The Netherlands, is hoping to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but not under the Iranian flag.</p>.<p>Without saying anything of her plans, Alizadeh assured the "dear Iranian people" that she would remain "a child of Iran wherever" she is.</p>
<p>Iran's only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh announced Saturday she has permanently left her country, citing the "hypocrisy" of a system she claims humiliates athletes while using them for political ends.</p>.<p>"Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?" she wrote on Instagram, as Iran reeled from Wednesday's accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 people onboard.</p>.<p>Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, cited oppression by authorities in the Islamic republic.</p>.<p>Criticising Iran's political system for "hypocrisy", "lying", "injustice" and "flattery", she said she wanted nothing more than "taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life".</p>.<p>"I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran with whom they have been playing for years," the 21-year-old wrote.</p>.<p>"I wore whatever they told me to wear," she said, referring to the Islamic veil, which is compulsory for all women in public in Iran.</p>.<p>"I repeated everything they told me to say," she wrote.</p>.<p>She continued: "None of us matter to them."</p>.<p>"No one invited me to Europe," she wrote, without saying where she was.</p>.<p>On Thursday, news of Alizadeh's disappearance shocked the country.</p>.<p>Iranian parliamentarian Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh had demanded answers, accusing "incompetent officials" of allowing Iran's "human capital to flee" the country.</p>.<p>The semi-official ISNA news agency carried a report on Thursday saying: "Shock for Iran's taekwondo. Kimia Alizadeh has emigrated to The Netherlands."</p>.<p>ISNA wrote that it believed that Alizadeh, who is reportedly training in The Netherlands, is hoping to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but not under the Iranian flag.</p>.<p>Without saying anything of her plans, Alizadeh assured the "dear Iranian people" that she would remain "a child of Iran wherever" she is.</p>