{"id":486049,"date":"2021-08-28T17:22:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T00:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=486049"},"modified":"2021-08-28T17:22:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T00:22:39","slug":"two-afghan-paralympians-arrive-in-tokyo-for-paralympics-after-evacuation-from-home-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/two-afghan-paralympians-arrive-in-tokyo-for-paralympics-after-evacuation-from-home-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Afghan Paralympians Arrive in Tokyo for Paralympics After Evacuation from Home Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Afghan Paralympians Arrive in Tokyo for Paralympics After Evacuation from Home Country<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, it looked like the Afghan Paralympians would be prevented from going to Tokyo for the Paralympic Games because of border and safety issues. The regime change, which has occurred since the Tokyo Olympics, has cast doubt on Afghanistan’s future participation in world sport since the Taliban refused to allow any organized athletics during their previous reign from 1996 to 2001. In particular, the Taliban have a very poor record on women’s rights, so the future of women’s sport in that country is especially concerning.<\/p>\n

But the world of sports received welcome news Saturday when the International Paralympic Committee reported that two Afghan Paralympians, Zakia Khudadadi<\/strong> and Hossain Rasouli<\/strong>, had arrived in Tokyo and would compete, Khudadadi in taekwondo and Rasouli in track and field. The two were evacuated to Paris last week and trained there before heading to Tokyo to represent their country.<\/p>\n

No Afghan swimmers will compete in the Paralympics. At the Olympics, the only representative from Afghanistan was\u00a0Fahim Anwari<\/strong>, who was 69th in the men’s 50 freestyle in 27.67.<\/p>\n