Tokyo Paralympics: Afghan athlete Hossain Rasouli represents country amid Taliban takeover

Amid ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan since the Taliban's takeover last month, Afghan athlete Hossain Rasouli finally got to represent his country at the Tokyo Paralympics on Tuesday, August 31. Braving all odds, he participated in a long jump event at the games after being evacuated from his war-torn country, making him the first athlete to represent his country at the games this year, Japan's Kyodo News said. Rasouli finished 13th in the Men’s long jump T47 event, with the best leap of 4.46 meters. Meanwhile, the winning jump was 7.46 meters by Cuban Robiel Yankiel Sol Cervantes, the news agency added. The 26-year-old, along with his teammate Zakia Khudadai, reached Tokyo on Saturday, August 28, late by almost a week, as they were among thousands of Afghans trapped in the country. 

Rasouli missed his T47 100 meters event 

Rasouli and Khudadadi were in Paris for about a week after their evacuation. However, Rasouli, primarily a sprinter, was scheduled to participate in the men's T47 100 meters, but he could not because of his late arrival, said the Kyodo News. He will be next competing in the men’s 400m T47 athletics event scheduled on September 3. Meanwhile, Khudadadi is the first female Afghan athlete to take part in the Paralympics since 2004. She will be competing in the women’s taekwondo K44-49kg category on Thursday, September 2. According to The Associated Press (AP), International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesperson Craig Spence said he spoke to Rasouli a couple of days ago but refused to divulge much information. 

The IPC was happy to see Afghan athletes' participation 

Meanwhile, International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) President Andrew Parsons was elated to see Afghan athletes finally making it to the games. Less than two weeks back the IPC was informed that the athletes would probably not be able to participate in the event due to the deteriorating situation in their country. "The sad news had broken hearts of everyone involved in the Paralympics movement. But now we all are happy seeing both Afghan athletes here after their safe evacuation," he told The AP. It should be noted here the Tokyo Paralympics is the 16th Summer Paralympics Games which started on August 24 and will culminate on September 5. It was originally scheduled to take place last year but had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 4,500 athletes from at least 163 nations are participating in this year's event.

(With inputs from AP) 

(Image Credits: AP)