Zakia Khudadadi : The para athlete who made history I Blog By Team Bookosmia

Zakia Khudadadi : The para athlete who made history 

Zakia Khudadadi, from Herat, Afghanistan, became fascinated with taekwondo at an early age. Even though hardly any girls her age practiced it, she was determined to keep learning. The fact that she was born with a disability in one hand never stopped her, as she became the first female Afghan female practitioner of taekwondo. At the age of 18, she won the African International Para Taekwondo Championship in Egypt, giving her a wildcard entry to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. 

Zakia began to prepare for the event but just a few days before the event, disaster struck. The US pulled its troops out of Afghanistan and the Taliban took over the country. The airports were closed, which meant athletes couldn’t leave the country. Zakia went into hiding and made an appeal to countries to help evacuate her out of Afghanistan so she could participate in the Paralympics. 

In August 2021, the Royal Australian Air Force airlifted Zakia and her compatriot track athlete Hossain Rasouli from Kabul to Paris and eventually they arrived in Tokyo. In September 2021, she competed as a Refugee Team member in the Paralympics. 

All eyes were on her as she competed in the 2024 Paris Paralympics and she did not disappoint. She defeated Turkey’s Ekinci Nurcihan and won a bronze medal, making it the first ever medal for the Refugee Team at the Paralympics. 

To know more about Paralympics and India’s contingent, here is a free book you can download : 

https://bookosmia.com/free-ebook-olympics-for-kids-watch-play-learn/

Pic Credit : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ZakiaKhudadadi.jpg#filelinks