Afghanistan’s two athletes made an “extremely emotional” arrival at the Tokyo Paralympic Village, Games chiefs said on Sunday, 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,” said IPC spokesman Craig Spence.
Khudadadi and Rasouli were welcomed to the athletes’ village on Saturday night by IPC chief Andrew Parsons and IPC Athletes’ Council chairperson Chelsey Gotell, as well as the Afghan team’s chef de mission Arian Sadiqi.
The pair spent a week in Paris at a French sports ministry training centre 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 will enter the T47 long jump final on Tuesday, while Khudadadi will compete in the women’s taekwondo K44 -49kg category on Thursday.