When Hadis moved to Spain in January 2026, she went from established national champion to complete unknown. “In Iran, I was a national champion and an established athlete. In Spain, nobody knew me or my sporting background,” she says. “I had to find training facilities, a team, competitions, and a new routine while learning to manage life as both a student and an athlete, with significant financial pressure and no institutional support.”
Hadis is a professional triathlete and duathlete from Iran, now pursuing a master’s degree in high performance sports. Active in sports since age 6, she explored many disciplines before committing fully to duathlon and triathlon after qualifying for the World Games at 21. Since then, she has represented Iran in international competitions, won multiple national and international titles, and reached 5th in the World Duathlon Ranking. She is also a certified triathlon coach who works with several athletes in Iran and a member of the Athletes’ Soul community, where she has found tools and support for the mental side of her journey. Now, she is pushing herself to discover how far she can go and hopes to win on triathlon’s biggest stages.
The road here has not been easy. Opportunities for women in Iranian sport are limited. “Many girls entered the sport with big dreams but eventually quit because they could not see a realistic path towards reaching the international level,” she says. Hadis often trained for long stretches without knowing whether she would get to race internationally, which is part of why she moved to Spain to support her training and growth.
Still, the challenges have not deterred her. She focuses on what she can control and enjoys the process rather than fixating on results. Her coach reminds her that she is a role model for other girls and women, a perspective that has deepened her motivation. She wants to look back on her career knowing she fully explored her potential. That goal connects to her changing view of sport:
“When I first started sport, winning was what mattered most to me. But through everything I have experienced, I have realised that sport is much more than winning. It has become a way for me to discover myself, develop resilience, grow through challenges, and ultimately enjoy my life.”
Getting there meant learning to handle disappointment, sadness, frustration, and the demands of being both a student and an athlete in a new country. Hadis had long been looking for ways to build mental resilience, so she joined Athletes’ Soul hoping to find connection and practical tools. She started in the group coaching program and eagerly looked forward to the weekly sessions. “It was amazing. I was really interested in the sessions, and it was just once a week, so all the days in a week, I was just waiting for Wednesday night to come.”
A resilience timeline exercise helped her appreciate how far she had come. “Until then, I didn’t recognize that I was a courageous, resilient person,” she says. “It helps me to know myself, both as an athlete and a kind of normal person.” It also changed how she saw her ambitions: “I didn’t believe in my biggest goal, it was kind of a dream. But after the session, it made me believe it, and now it’s turned into a real goal.”
“I didn’t believe in my biggest goal, it was kind of a dream. But after the sessions at Athletes’ Soul, it made me believe it, and now it’s turned into a real goal.”
Goal setting had a similar effect. By writing down smaller steps, Hadis could start with small things and take bigger steps when she was ready. Now, when she faces an obstacle, she journals and breaks it into step-by-step solutions so she isn’t overwhelmed.
Beyond these tools, Hadis found a community and no longer feels so alone. In the one-on-one mentorship program, she now has personalized conversations with a team member who helps her find solutions.
“Athletes’ Soul helped me not to feel alone when I was facing one of the most difficult periods of my life,” she says. “Knowing that someone cares about your challenges makes it easier to get through them.”
She is also learning who she is beyond being an athlete. Hadis describes herself as courageous, resilient, curious, dedicated, supportive, and kind, and she names honesty, dedication, faith, and joy as her guiding values. Away from training, she enjoys cooking while listening to podcasts, video calls with her mum, and the occasional adventure trip. She hopes to learn an instrument someday. Looking ahead, she is seeking coaching or sports development work that lets her keep training, along with sponsorship, and she is curious about life coaching so she can one day support athletes mentally as well as physically.
Hadis’s path has been full of challenges and uncertainty, but she is not giving up. Equipped with tools and support, she is ready to go after her dreams. Her advice can help you wherever you are in your own journey:
“Stay motivated, especially when challenges come to you. Those challenges come just to make you stronger...enjoy the journey and keep moving forward.”
You can connect with Hadis via LinkedIn here.