A refugee girl's Olympic medal journey
From bombs to bronze
Exactly three years ago, US airplanes began arriving in great numbers in Afghanistan. For over two decades, the US had been indirectly controlling the Afghan government by maintaining its soldiers in the country. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, had declared that he no longer wanted US troops stationed in Afghanistan. The US government realized that it was costing a great deal of money to send, feed, and clothe its troops in a foreign country for over 20 years. Days after this announcement, American soldiers, officers, and citizens living in Afghanistan fled to the nearest airport, clambered onto planes, and took off. None of this surprised the rest of the world. It was widely understood that the US could not continue spending billions of dollars to ‘maintain peace’ in a distant nation indefinitely. This had to come to an end someday
What did surprise the world was what happened next. The Afghan government, which had been supported by the US, was overthrown in less than a week, and a new government led by local powers, known as the Taliban, came to power. The US was shocked, as were the Western European countries. They had hoped that the government they had installed would have held onto power for at least a few months.
Afghans braced for a different kind of shock
The Taliban that took control of the country wasn’t exactly a great fan of female empowerment (or perhaps they were afraid of real women's power?). They banned girls from going to school. All forms of physical sports were off-limits for women. Up until then, women athletes, scientists, and professionals had been going about their lives as usual. Some had been working in corporations, hospitals, or schools. The women athletes had been training for years to compete in global events. Suddenly, all their lives were at risk, and they were desperate for a way out. One such woman athlete was Zakia Khudadadi.
Zakia was born in 1998 in a place called Herat in western Afghanistan. Her condition at birth shocked everyone around her: little Zakia had been born without one forearm. Life was unenviable for her, as Afghanistan was not a particularly welcoming place for either a woman or a disabled person, and Zakia was both. When she was 10 years old, she sat mesmerized in front of the TV, watching taekwondo athlete Rohullah Nikpai win Afghanistan’s first-ever Olympic medal. Her eyes lit up with hope. A few days later, she met a coach who said to her, “You are a strong girl; start training in sports to escape your status as a woman and a disabled person.” He took her under his tutelage. Zakia chose to learn taekwondo, a martial art where you fight with your feet. She trained in secret in a hidden gym, a small 9-square-meter room. Zakia found a lot of support from her father, brothers, and the rest of her family. They encouraged her to practice and praised her fighting spirit.
Zakia soon improved at the sport and began traveling to Kabul, the country’s capital, for training camps and competitions. She competed not only against disabled athletes but also against fully able-bodied athletes, and she won against them all. In 2016, at the African Championships (where Asian athletes were also invited), she won the title in her category. Thrilled and fueled by this victory, she began preparing for the next Olympics, or rather, the Paralympics, in Tokyo.
She had two weeks left before she had to leave for Tokyo for the big Games. Just then, the US soldiers began to leave the country, and the Taliban started marching toward Kabul to overthrow the government and take over the country.
Zakia went into hiding. She knew that the Taliban did not encourage or recognize female athletes, let alone disabled women who chose to participate in sports. Each day brought her closer to the Tokyo Games, but Zakia spent this time in hiding. A few days later, left with no other choice, Zakia sent out a plea to the world via social media: “I am an Afghan Paralympic athlete. Despite all the struggles I have faced, I am currently confined to this apartment, unable to go out... I ask you to extend a hand to me.”
France was the first country to respond to her call. France had already chartered a plane to evacuate prominent women who might be targeted by the Taliban, and Zakia was secretly rescued and flown out of the country on that plane. She reached the Tokyo Games just in time.
The Tokyo Games did not yield any medals for Zakia, but she did not relent and continued to practice. However, she could not return to Afghanistan after the Games. Zakia found asylum in France, and life began anew for her in this new country. She continued her taekwondo training alongside French athletes and coach Haby Niare. She aspired to participate in the Paralympics, but would this dream come true? Afghanistan was not allowing any women, whether inside the country or abroad, to represent the nation in any sports event. What was Zakia to do?
As Zakia sat inside her tent in France, where she was staying as a refugee, her thoughts drifted back to her childhood. She recalled, “My life has been a journey filled with ups and downs. I faced death threats and even contemplated suicide. What set me apart was my disability. When I looked in the mirror, I knew I was missing a hand. But I pictured in my mind having an iron hand instead, one that made me impossible to stop. In that way, my disability has given me extra strength.”
Luck came calling soon.
The International Olympics Committee swung into action
120 million refugees had moved across countries in the past couple of decades. People fleeing war-torn regions were pouring into Europe. While Europe had great coaches and facilities, these refugees could not represent European countries as they were not citizens of these nations. Thus, the idea was born to create an entirely new team made up of refugees from many different corners of the world. This team would participate in the Olympics and the Paralympics under a common flag for refugees.
Zakia was selected to be the taekwondo participant for this team at the Paralympics in Paris in 2024. As it turned out, she won the bronze medal just this past week! She was ecstatic and could not believe her eyes. 😊
“It is a great honor because I am representing millions of refugees who have disabilities in these Games, and I will participate with immense pride. I want to send them a message and show them we are examples of peace, acceptance, courage, friendship and equality. Hopefully, we can inspire them and encourage them to follow their dreams.”
“I want to give this medal to the whole world, I hope that one day there will be freedom in my country, for all the world, for all the girls, for all the women, for all the refugees in the world. And that all of us work towards that, for liberty and equality."
Zakia’s win is a great inspiration to women and girls in Afghanistan. Like Zakia, there are many more female athletes still in hiding in Afghanistan, living in constant fear. These women remain unable to fully participate in their lives, whether in school or in sports. They continue to be second-class citizens. Hopefully, a miracle will bring smiles back to their faces and restore their voices.
Trivia: Zakia’s win is the first ever medal won by from the Refugee team in a Paralympics event!
Podcast this week
Bournvita, Complan, Boost, and similar malted drinks have been issued a notice by a food authority in India. The authority wants these companies to stop their misleading marketing claims, specifically the claim that they are health drinks for kids. These drinks are so far from being healthy that some nutritionists refer to them as harbingers of diseases. In this podcast episode, we are joined by food technologist and communications expert Sarika Singh, who explains what’s wrong with these drinks (and also with Coca Cola and Pepsi!)