By Chang-Ran Kim
CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s Zakia Khudadadi competed in the Paralympics on Thursday and became the first woman in her country to do so since Athens 2004 after a secret international effort to help the taekwondo athlete get out of Kabul, now controlled by the Taliban.
The 22-year-old sportswoman and her compatriot Hossain Rasouli arrived in Tokyo on Saturday via Paris after Khudadadi recorded a video calling for help to leave the capital of Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s rise to power.
This Thursday, Khudadadi entered Chiba’s Makuhari Messe competition arena wearing a white hijab for the first match of the sport’s Paralympic debut. She was the second woman to compete for her country in the Paralympics, which began in 1960.
Khudadadi did not speak to reporters after his two fights, which he lost. Rasouli competed in the men’s long jump on Tuesday. The two athletes said they didn’t want to talk to the media.
“I’m concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, but I’m very happy that she was able to come and compete with me,” Ukrainian Viktoriia Marchuk told reporters after beating Khudadadi in the play-off.
It was not immediately clear what the Afghan athletes planned to do after the Paralympics, but Alison Battisson of Human Rights for All, who was involved in their withdrawal, told Reuters that Australia had granted them humanitarian visas.
In the August 17 video, Khudadadi said: “I don’t want my fight to be in vain and without any result.”
See too
+ Until 2019, there were more people in prisons than on the Brazilian stock exchange
+ Geisy complains about social media censorship: “Instagram is chasing me”
+ Aloe gel in the drink: see the benefits
+ Nicole Bahls had already been warned about her ex-husband’s infidelity
+ Trick to squeeze lemons becomes a craze on social media
+ Chef playmate creates aphrodisiac recipe for Orgasm Day
+ Mercedes-Benz Sprinter wins motorhome version
+ Anorexia, an eating disorder that can lead to death
+ US agency warns: never wash raw chicken meat
+ Yasmin Brunet breaks the silence
+ Shark is captured in MA with the remains of youngsters missing in the stomach
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://ift.tt/2EUDMIP);
fbq(‘init’, ‘2641197072803735’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
source https://pledgetimes.com/afghan-athlete-debuts-in-the-paralympics-after-secret-exit-from-the-country-istoe-dinheiro/
Disqus comments