Afghanistan at the Paralympic Games
Afghanistan first competed at the Paralympic Games at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta. They have sent a team to all following Paralympic Games except in 2000 when the country was banned from sending a team due to its treatment of women under Taliban rule. They are yet to win a medal.
Afghanistan's attendance at the Paralympics in 2021 was in jeopardy. Less than a week before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, the Afghanistan team officially withdrew due to an outbreak of violence and instability in the country. Fortunately, the team's two athletes, taekwondo athlete Zakia Khudadadi and track athlete Hossain Rasouli evertually made it out of Kabul and arrived in secret at Tokyo.
When they have attended the Paralympics, the country has sent just one or two athletes. At their first event, they sent two cyclists. In Athens 2004 again two athletes represented Afghanistan: female sprinter Mareena Karim and male cyclist Qaher Hazrat. Their sole representative at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing was powerlifter Mohammad Fahim Rahimi. Rahimi returned as the only athlete again in 2012. Javelin thrower Mohammad Durani was Afghanistan's only representative at Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Paralympics, though following a positive drug test after the Games he was disqualified and his result annulled.
Related Pages
- Afghanistan at the Summer Olympics
- Countries participating at the Paralympic Games
- About Sport in Afghanistan
- Paralympics host cities
- Other major world sporting events
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