First Afghan woman to compete internationally since Taliban takeover goes for Olympic gold in Paris
PARIS: Zakia Khudadadi spent most of her life breaking through glass ceilings. Or rather, punching them with a partner.
The Taekwondo Paralympian made history in Tokyo 2021 by becoming the first Afghan woman to compete in an international sporting event after the Taliban regained control of her country as US and NATO troops withdrew after a 20-year war.
She was initially barred from competing after the rise of the Taliban, but was later evacuated from Afghanistan and allowed to compete for her country after a request from the international community.
At the 2024 Paralympics, which is part of the wider Paris Olympics, Khudadadi said she was competing on behalf of women in her country who have been gradually disenfranchised over the past three years.
“It's difficult for me because I would like to perform under the flag of my country,” she said. But “life is forbidden for all girls and women in Afghanistan. It's all over. Today I am here to win a medal for them in Paris. I want to show strength to all women and girls in Afghanistan.”
Khudadadi competes for the refugee Paralympic team, while other athletes are aiming to win medals under the Afghan flag, such as Olympic sprinter Kimia Yousofi. Yousafi's parents fled during the previous Taliban rule, and she was born and raised in neighboring Iran. She said she wanted to represent her country, flaws and all, and wanted to “be the voice of Afghan girls.”
For Khudadadi, she started taekwondo at age 11, secretly training at a gym in her hometown of Herat because there were simply no other options for women to practice the sport safely. Despite the closed culture around her, Khudadadi said her family is open-minded and will push her to be active.
Her difficulty competing in Afghanistan was compounded by her disability, she said.
According to Human Rights Watch, despite the fact that the number of people with disabilities per capita is “one of the highest in the world” due to the conflict, people with disabilities are often shunned and excluded from Afghan society. Women often suffer disproportionately.
Khudadadi, who was born without one forearm, said she had been hiding her arm all her life. It wasn't until she started competing that things started to change.
“Before I started playing sports, I used to protect myself a lot with my hand. But little by little… I started showing my hand, but only in the club. Only during competitions,” she said.
When she started competing, she said she felt the stigma begin to melt away. Taekwondo once again became her path to freedom, and she gained attention in 2016 when she won her first international medal.
That all changed five years later, when the Taliban abruptly came to power after the Biden administration left Afghanistan. While preparing for Tokyo, Khudadadi was trapped in the country's capital, Kabul.
The International Paralympic Committee initially issued a statement saying that the Afghan team would not be participating in the 2021 Games “due to the serious situation in the country”. But in an attempt to compete, Khudadadi released a video asking the international community for help.
“Please, I am calling on all of you, from women around the world, from women's organizations, from all government organizations, not to allow the rights of Afghan female citizens in the Paralympic movement to be taken away so easily,” she said. that my struggle may be in vain.'
She was evacuated to Tokyo in 2021 to compete, leaving her family behind.
In doing so, she became the first Afghan Paralympian in nearly two decades. In 2023, she won gold at the European Parachute Championships.
After fleeing Afghanistan, she settled in Paris, but she said she aches for the mix of cultures that color her country and the openness of the people who roam the busy streets of Kabul.
“I hope that one day I can return to Afghanistan, to Kabul, to live together in freedom and peace,” she said.
Thousands of kilometers away in Khudadadi's hometown of Herat, 38-year-old Shah Mohammad was among those supporting Khudadadi and other Afghan athletes in Paris.
“We are happy for the Afghan women who went to the Olympics, but I wish that one day the women of Afghanistan could participate in the Games and be the voice of the women of the country,” Mohammad said.
That day is unlikely to come anytime soon.
The Taliban have excluded women from much of public life and banned girls from studying beyond the sixth grade as part of the harsh measures they introduced from 2021, despite initially promising more moderate rule. Just in January, the United Nations said the Taliban now restricts Afghan women's access to work, travel and health care if they are unmarried or without a male guardian.
They didn't just ban sports for women and girls, they intimidated and harassed those who once did.
But even before the Taliban returned to power, many representatives of the country's deeply conservative society opposed women's sports, which were seen as a violation of women's modesty and their role in society.
However, the previous Western-backed government had programs to encourage women's sports and school clubs, leagues and national teams.
For Khudadadi, the IOC refugee team has helped her and other athletes who have fled their countries continue their careers. The Paralympian has been training long hours – with her eyes set on a gold medal in Paris – with deep frustration as she watches her country's women's progress falter and Afghanistan once again fades from the global spotlight.
One question lingers in Khudadadi's mind: “Why has the world forgotten about Afghan women?”
Still, for people like Mohammad Amin Sharifi, 43, watching Khudadadi and other Afghan Olympians in Paris, especially the women, was a source of pride for people like him in Afghanistan.
“Now we need the voices of Afghan women to be heard in any way possible, and the Olympics is the best place to do that,” said Sharifi from Kabul. “We are happy and proud of the women who represent the Afghan people.”
