A version of this story was first published in the Tri-City News on April 8, 2024
An Anmore wrestler is a step closer to realizing his Olympic dream.
On Sept. 3, Peiman Biabani was named to Canada’s national wrestling team that will compete at the senior world championships in Zagred, Croatia, Sept. 13-21.
Biabani will wrestle in the 65 kg weight class. He’d previously won silver and bronze medals for Canada at the Pan-American championships and in 2016 he was the junior world champion in the 60 kg weight class when he was still living and training in Tehran, Iran.
There, Biabani was a superstar in that country’s national sport.
Prior to becoming world junior champion, Bianbani won the junior Asian championships in 2015, just three years after taking up wrestling.
Anmore wrestler Pieman Biabani was a champion in Iran before coming to Canada to pursue better opportunties to realize his Olympic dream.
To continue his development, Biabani attended a special sports academy that allowed him to train full-time 15 days out of 20 while also getting an education. All his expenses were paid for, as was his travel to competitions in countries like Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.
But when decisions within Iran’s wrestling federation got in the way of Biabani’s further advancement, he knew it was time to forge another path to glory.
A chance discussion at a meet in Siberia with Dave McKay, of the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club, pointed Biabani to Canada. He talked to his family, who gave their blessing. Wrestling’s governing body in Iran also agreed to the move.
Then the COVID pandemic hit.
Biabani was forced to stay put for another year, training, staying optimistic but rarely competing at important meets like the 2021 world championships.
“It was real hard for me,” Biabani said of his delayed dream.
Meanwhile, in Canada, McKay worked diligently to secure the paperwork that would allow the young Iranian to live, train and compete in his chosen destination. He reached out to the close-knit community of wrestlers across the country to help fund Biabani’s move, find him a place to live and get him settled when he arrived.
“There was a lot of things to set up,” McKay said, including the hiring of lawyers to help Biabani navigate the tricky and lengthy process of attaining the proper visas as well as an international transfer from Iran to Canada in his sport.
When Biabani arrived in Canada on a visitor’s visa in late 2021, he didn’t know any English, and without status to compete for his new country, he had no funding to support himself.
But, said McKay, he knew the common language of the wrestling community.
An old contact of the coach found Biabani a family in Anmore where he could live. He volunteered to help out with coaching between his training sessions at Burnaby Mountain, as well as at other wrestling clubs at Coquitlam’s Pinetree Community Centre and in the Fraser Valley. To support himself and pay his expenses to get to competitions he took on labour jobs like flooring and construction.
“I don’t have any choice but to push myself,” said Biabani of the juggling required to stay on course with his training while managing the day-to-day challenges of life in a new country.
Results started to happen, at meets like the SFU Open.
In October 2023, Biabani achieved permanent residency and in January, 2024, he finally secured the international transfer that allows him to compete for Canada.
Biabani promptly won a silver medal at the 2024 Pan Am championships but he was injured just prior to the final so couldn’t compete for gold.
But Biabani was denied his dream of competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris because he hadn’t yet attained Canadian citizenship.
Biabani said it was a tough pill to swallow, but it’s only reinforced his resolve to keep working hard so he can represent his new country at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“Four more years is nothing,” Biabani said, adding the challenges of the past few years have given him the mental fortitude and patience to stick with his program.
“I moved here for my dream.”
McKay has every confidence his protégé will be successful.
“He didn’t have the chance, but now he has the chance,” he said, adding wrestlers usually reach the peak of their form when they’re in their early 30s; Biabani will be 31 in 2028.
“His time is now,” McKay said. “Every day counts to make it better for his wrestling.”
• Biabani is one of five athletes from the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club who will be competing for Canada in Zagreb. The other four are:
- Karla Godinez, in the women’s 55 kg class
- Ana Godinez, in the women’s 62 kg class
- Patrik Leder, in the men’s 79 kg class
- Nishan Randhawa, in the men’s 97 kg class
McKay will also be one of the team’s coaches.
MARIO BARTEL 