The two Afghan athletes, who arrived in Tokyo for the Paralympic Games from Paris after their evacuation from Kabul, made an “extremely moving” arrival at the Paralympic Village, officials said on Sunday.
Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli, who arrived in Japan on Saturday evening, are ready to take part in the Paralympic Games, having left their country in the hands of the Taliban since August 15 last week.
“Both athletes are here in Tokyo to fulfill their dreams, sending a very strong message of hope to many other athletes around the world,” said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesperson Craig Spence.
Khudadadi and Rasouli were greeted at the Paralympic Village on Saturday evening by IPC President Andrew Parsons, IPC Athletes Council President Chelsey Gotell, and Afghan delegation chef de mission Arian Sadiqi.
"This meeting was extremely moving"
“As you can imagine, this meeting was extremely moving,” Spence said, adding, “There were a lot of tears from everyone in the room.
It was an incredible meeting ”.
The two athletes spent a week in Paris, training at the National Institute of Sports Expertise and Performance (INSEP) after their evacuation.
Sprinter Hossain Rasouli, who lost his left arm in a mine explosion, had to line up for 100m but he arrived too late for the series which took place on Saturday.
He will participate in the long jump competition on Tuesday.
Taekwondoist Zakia Khudadadi will compete in less than 49 kg on Thursday (category K44).
Craig Spence noted that the mental health and well-being of athletes is the IPC's “top priority”.
Spence added that the organizers wanted to avoid a "selfie festival" with the other participants in the village, but stressed that the two Afghans could mingle with the other participants.
"We're not saying + you just have to stay in your rooms and not go out," he stressed.
“We tell them that once they have completed their three-day quarantine, they will be able to fully experience being in the Athletes' Village.
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In their absence, the Afghan flag was symbolically paraded Tuesday during the opening ceremony.