After being discreetly evacuated from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Afghan taekwondo competitor Zakia Khudadadi competed in the Tokyo Paralympic Games. After a secret international operation to help them get out of Taliban-controlled Kabul, the 22-year-old and her compatriot Hossain Rasouli traveled to Paris before continuing to Tokyo.
Khudadadi, the first Afghan woman to compete for Afghanistan at the Paralympic Games since 2004, arrived at the competition stadium in Chiba, near the Japanese capital, wearing a white hijab for the opening match of the Korean combat sport’s debut at the Paralympics. In the under-49 kilograms division, Khudadadi lost both of her matches to Ziyodakhon Isakova of Uzbekistan and Viktoria Marchuk of Ukraine.
After defeating Khudadadi, Marchuk was quoted saying, “I’m worried about the situation in Afghanistan, but I’m happy that he managed to come to Tokyo and compete with me”.
Rasouli, who was also evacuated with Khudadadi, was too late to compete in the 100 metre event in which the player had participated and was placed last among the other competitors.
It was made clear by the International Paralympics Committee that, keeping in mind the ongoing situation in their home country, the athletes would not be available for interviews post their games.
The question however remains what will happen to them post their matches in the Paralympics. When asked about the same to the IPC spokesperson, Craig Spence, he replied, “We’ve left them be for the last few days to focus on competition.”
