Now training in Belgium, the 24-year-old from Afghanistan has practised taekwondo since he was eight.

He told the Olympic Channel how he fled to Europe four years ago from his war-torn country after gangs had made threats against him because of his sporting ability.

"It was a gruelling mission, there were days I walked for 12 hours straight," he said of his escape.

Now established in Wilrijk, a neighbourhood of Antwerp, Sediqi’s results are offering real hope that he can earn a place at this summer’s postponed Olympics.

But in a recent interview with Taekwondo Vlaanderen (Flanders Taekwondo) he revealed that he had not been able to see his mother before her death from coronavirus.

"My mother died of coronavirus six months ago," he said.

"Her death was difficult for me - I had not seen her since my arrival in Belgium.

"Suddenly, you are told she is seriously ill - a while later she was gone.

"That's tough, but I have to move on."

His training sessions in Wilrijk with coach Alireza Naser Azadani have paid off in recent years.

Sediqi won silver at the 2019 Spanish Open and bronze at the 2020 Dutch Open.

He also represented World Taekwondo as a refugee athlete at the 2019 World Championships in Manchester, where he reached the last 64 in the featherweight (under-68 kilograms) category.

"Those performances reflect my feeling in the team and that is good," he said to Taekwondo Vlaanderen.

"At the moment my big goal is to reach the Tokyo Olympics."

There are a few places available for Refugee Team athletes across the different sports.

"Of all those candidates, I have one of the better rankings," said Sediqi.

"So the dream of going is certainly not unrealistic."

Meanwhile through the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), established in 2015 in response to the migrant crisis stemming from conflict in Syria, World Taekwondo is working to teach the sport to refugees and displaced people across the world.

A flagship academy has been established at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan.

Fifteen children who were introduced to taekwondo through the THF now hold black belts, including Olympic Solidarity scholarship holder and Tokyo 2020 hopeful Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj.

If he makes it to Tokyo, Sediqi adds, there is one man he especially wants to face.

"Lee Dae-hoon", he says, referring to the two-time Olympic medallist and three-times world champion from South Korea.

"I want to beat him.

"He is the (best) fighter in the world."