It is the Paralympic refugee team’s first medal after athlete Zakia Khudadadi won a bronze medal in taekwondo on Thursday.
Although she lost in the quarterfinals, she defeated Turkey’s Ekinci Norcihan in her repechage or makeup match, and Morocco’s Noul Larif withdrew from the bronze medal match to win the medal. Khudadadi competed in the K44 category, which refers to athletes with an amputated arm, loss of function of an arm, or loss of fingers.
Khudadadi was born in Afghanistan, but left in 2021, and now lives in France due to unrest in his home country. As such, she competes with the Paralympic Refugee Team, which represents the 120 million people globally who have been displaced. The team covers six countries and six sports, including para-athletics, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair fencing, and powerlifting.
French fans held up posters of “Zakia” at her as she competed at the Grand Palais.
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is ready for the 2024 Paralympic Games.
“For three years I have been a professional taekwondo practitioner, and today I won because I have the French Republic, the refugee team and my best coach Hebe Nyare behind me,” she said. “We all won today.”
This is Khudadadi’s second Paralympic Games. She made her debut in Tokyo in 2021, where she became the second Afghan athlete to compete in the Paralympics. He has been involved in the sport since the age of 9.
She said that I wanted to give this medal to the whole world. I hope that one day there will be freedom in my country (Afghanistan), for all the world, for all the girls, for all the women, for all the refugees in the world. And that we all stand for freedom and equality.
