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.
![Irans sole female Olympic medallist defects](http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/66b45257b9c42ef37f7410136042beb8827e10cd.jpg)
"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.
Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, cited oppression by authorities in the Islamic republic.