Afghanistan’s two athletes made an “extremely emotional” arrival at the Tokyo Paralympic Village, Games officials said yesterday, after a top-secret flight from Paris following their evacuation from Kabul.
Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli arrived in Japan ready to compete at the Games, after leaving Taliban-controlled Afghanistan last weekend in a “major global operation.”
“Both athletes are here in Tokyo to fulfil their dreams, sending out a very strong message of hope to many others around the world,” International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence said.
Khudadadi and Rasouli were welcomed to the athletes’ village on Saturday night by IPC president Andrew Parsons and IPC Athletes’ Council chairperson Chelsey Gotell, as well as the Afghanistan team chef de mission Arian Sadiqi.
“As you can imagine, the meeting was extremely emotional,” Spence said. “There were lots of tears from everyone in the room. It really was a remarkable meeting.”
The pair spent a week in Paris at a French Ministry of Sports training center following their evacuation from Kabul.
Sprinter Rasouli was scheduled to compete in the men’s T47 100m, but arrived too late for Saturday’s heats.
Instead, he is to enter the T47 long jump final tomorrow, while Khudadadi is to compete in the women’s taekwondo K44 49kg category on Thursday.
Spence said that the athletes’ mental health and well-being was the IPC’s “top priority.”
“Every day, we’ve checked in on primarily their mental health because, as you can imagine, the situation they’ve gone through in the last few days is a serious one,” he said.
Their arrival comes after Afghanistan’s swift fall to the Taliban earlier this month left them among the tens of thousands trapped and unable to leave the country.
At the opening ceremony on Tuesday last week, the Afghan flag featured in a symbolic fashion, carried by a volunteer.
While at the Games, the two athletes would not speak to reporters, Spence said.
Organizers aim to avoid “a selfie-fest” with athletes taking pictures in the village, but the pair would be allowed to mingle, he said.
“We’re not saying: ‘You should just stay in your apartments and not go out,’” he said. “We’re saying: ‘Once you’ve gone through your three-day quarantine, you need to fulfil this experience of being at the athletes’ village.’”
The Tokyo Paralympics are taking place under strict disease prevention rules and largely behind closed doors, after a year’s delay because of COVID-19.
The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule than their first stint in power, but many Afghans fear a repeat of their brutal interpretation of Shariah law.
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