In the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games, Dysturb, a Paris-based creative agency and media organization co-founded by 2019 CatchLight Global Fellow Pierre Terdjman, launched #Championnes, a multimedia training program for young women to gain visual storytelling skills through sports journalism.

The Dysturb team believes sports are an excellent foil for addressing societal issues because of its unique ability to bring people together and transmit messages. This creates a rich teaching environment for journalism. Additionally, the Olympics brought Paris to the world stage in 2024, providing outsized visibility for stories coming out of the region.

Marzieh Hamidi was a rising star on the Afghan national Taekwondo team, but when the Taliban seized control of her country, women were banned from competing. In early 2022, she fled to France, the first country to grant her a refugee visa, while her family was later welcomed by Germany.

Now 21 years old, Hamidi is a member of both the French Taekwondo team and the 2024 Refugee Olympic Team. Despite facing serious threats to her safety, she has become a powerful advocate for women’s rights, using her platform to inspire change.

Amandine Lauriol is a photographer and videographer from the Hans Lucas Agency, as well as a Taekwondo practitioner. She works on documentary projects focused on social issues, human resilience, and sports. Lauriol documented Hamidi’s story, entitled “Azadi,” as part of Dysturb’s #Championnes project. The story was produced in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture, ITEM photographers collective, and with support from the CatchLight Impact Fund.