Raheleh Asemani stands on top of the podium at the European Qualifying Tournament ©WTF

Refugee athlete Raheleh Asemani is targeting success at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro later this year after the post office worker booked her place in the Brazilian city this summer.

The taekwondo player was identified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of three potential Olympic athletes among the thousands of refugees worldwide in December and, in what the organisation will likely see as a significant PR boost, successfully came through qualifying.

Governing body the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) had also ruled that players who are refugees would be given the chance to reach Rio.

Asemani, a former member of the Iran team who now lives in Belgium, is now likely to compete at the Games under the Olympic flag.

"I work in a post office, I run from house to house delivering letters, but today I have delivered an Olympic ticket - I’m going to Rio," she said.

"Hope has carried me to the Olympics - now I will give all I have to win."

Asemani has been assisted by Belgian coaches and there has been some talk of her becoming a citizen of the European country.

Quota places at the European Qualification Tournament she successfully negotiated in Istanbul on Sunday (January 17) are awarded to countries and not individual athletes, however, and her place was won under the WTF banner and not that of Belgium.

Raheleh Asemani, right, on her way to her success in Istanbul ©WTF
Raheleh Asemani, right, on her way to her success in Istanbul ©WTF

"If this was a movie,  nobody would believe it was possible," said Laurence Rase, performance director for the Belgian team. 

Karim Dighou, Belgium's team coach, added that he was "living a dream".

A total of 68 taekwondo quota places have now been awarded for Rio 2016, across the men's and women's competitions.

Former Asian Games medallist Asemani was successful in the women's under 57kg category.

As with every weight class, two quota places were up for grabs so her 1-0 semi-final success over Norway's Marie Magnus was enough to seal her Rio 2016 berth.

Not content with that, however, she then went on to win the competition in the Turkish city, beating Finland's Suvi Mikkonen, who also qualified, 7-4 in the final.

Pere Miró, the deputy general of the IOC, had previously pledged that the body would do “everything they can" to help refugee athletes reach the top of their game.