Safwan Khalil

Fast Facts

Sport: Taekwondo
Event: Men's Flyweight
Olympic History: London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Coach: Ali Khalil
Year Born: 1986
State Born: Tripoli, Lebanon

About Safwan

Safwan Khalil received his first taste of martial arts action as a child in suburban Sydney, where after replicating the action-packed fight sequences of Hollywood kung-fu films, Khalil’s mother sent him and his brothers to the nearest taekwondo school. 

Khalil immediately became enamoured with the sport and quickly rose up through the national taekwondo ranks before making his World Youth Championships debut in 2002. 

Khalil first made his mark on the international stage a year later, when the then 17-year-old emerged victorious in the Asian Youth Championships. 

Promotion to the senior competition proved relatively seamless for Khalil, who exited the 2005 World Championships in the quarterfinals as one of the notable overachievers of the tournament.  

In 2011, Khalil became the first Australian athlete to win gold at a benchmark event with a monumental triumph at the 2011 World Universiade. 

One year later, Khalil made his Olympic debut in London, where the eventual gold medallist Joel Gonzalez defeated the Sydneysider. Khalil went on to earn himself a spot in the bronze medal match, but couldn’t defeat Russian Alexey Denisenko to join Gonzalez on the podium. 

Four years later, Khalil represented Australia at his second Olympic Games in Rio. The 35-year-old finished the event in seventh place after being eliminated in the quarterfinals. 

Khalil qualified to his third consecutive Games in the Oceania qualification tournament held on the Gold Coast in 2020, joining Olympic debutants Reba Stewart, Stacey Hymer and Jack Marton in securing Australia’s four quota spots for Tokyo.  

Khalil is coached by his older brother Ali, who advises the two-time Olympian from his southwest Sydney gym. Khalil remains engaged with his training at his brother's Global Martial Arts Gym, where he also gives back to the grassroots programs within the facility. 

Safwan made his third consecutive Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020. He would be defeated in the preliminary round of the competition, losing to Thailand's Ramnarong Sawekwiharee 23-7.