Farinaz Lari is just 36, but she has already overcome a lifetime of obstacles to become a kickboxing champion and entrepreneur.
Lari was the first Iranian-Canadian woman to win the World Kickboxing Championship. Today, she runs a fitness gym in Vancouver with her husband, Ali Khanjari, a European kickboxing champion who also fights with the Canadian national team. But her path to success was far from easy.
Born in Iran in 1987, Lari dreamed of martial arts as a child, but her parents disapproved. They preferred what they considered “girly sports” like gymnastics. When she turned 18, she signed up for a kickboxing class meant for weight loss. But her ambitions were bigger — she wanted to compete seriously.
“I started looking and I found my husband,” she recalled. “But he refused to train me at first because he thought women weren’t serious and were just following a trend.” Convincing him, while keeping her training a secret from her family, took time. “It was quite a journey before I could actually share my story,” she said.
In 2009, Iran planned to send athletes to the 3rd Asian Indoor Games Kickboxing Championships. Lari remembers her encounter with the federation’s head vividly.
“I went to beg him to let me compete,” she said. “He didn’t even look at me. He asked if I promised to win a gold medal because they didn’t want to waste resources on someone who couldn’t. I said, ‘I promise,’ and then he dismissed me.”
Even after approval, challenges continued. Iran’s president at the time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, disapproved of her uniform just before her match in Vietnam. “At 10 p.m., they asked me to go to his hotel and beg for permission. He said if I sewed three inches onto my shorts, I could compete. I had to find another pair of shorts to cut and attach. It was very stressful, but I had worked too hard to give up.”
Lari moved to Canada in 2010 but still competed for Iran. In 2013, she became the first Iranian woman to win gold at the World Kickboxing Championships. After that, she decided to join the Canadian national team.
Iran’s officials suspended her for two years, claiming it was treason. “There was also a legal battle accusing me of criticizing Muslim women, which was completely false,” Lari said. “I have always spoken positively about the hijab. It’s a choice, and women should be able to compete while wearing it.”
Since then, Lari has fought professionally and now runs her Vancouver gym. She is also a Lululemon ambassador, a collaboration that began in 2022.
“When I was selected, I felt like other women who look like me or come from my part of the world could see that opportunities exist,” she said.
Farinaz Lari’s journey is a story of resilience and possibility. “In Iran, owning a gym for men and women together was impossible. In Canada, I made it happen. I want every woman who immigrates here to know that opportunities exist if we put our energy into them.”
Farinaz Lari {New Canadian Media}
