Afghanistan at the Olympics

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Afghanistan at the Olympic Games

Flag of Afghanistan
IOC code  AFG
NOC Afghanistan National Olympic Committee
Olympic history
Summer Games
1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008

Afghanistan has competed in 11 Summer Games. They have never appeared in any Winter Games.

The country made its first appearance at the Berlin Games in 1936. It has sent a delegation to most Summer Games since then.

Afghanistan did not send a team to the Barcelona Games in 1992, and sent only two representatives to the Atlanta Games in 1996. Light-middleweight boxer Mohammad Jawid Aman was not permitted to compete, having arrived too late for the mandatory weigh-in and draw, which left marathonian Abdul Baser Wasiqi as the country's sole representative. Wasiqi injured a hamstring muscle before the race, but competed nonetheless, literally limping his way through the marathon and finishing last.[1] In 1999, Afghanistan was banned from the Olympics due to its discrimination against women under Taleban rule, and thus missed out on the Sydney Olympics of the year 2000. The country was re-instated in 2002, following the fall of the Taliban[2], and sent five representatives to the Athens Games in 2004. Among them were two women, Robina Muqim Yaar and Friba Razayee, the first ever women to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympics.[3]

Afghanistan will send a team of four competitors[4], including three men and one woman, Mehboba Ahdyar[5], to the Beijing Games of 2008. Ahdyar has received death threats due to her intended participation in the Games.[6]

Afghanistan has never won a medal at the Olympic Games.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Taleban hope to get ban revoked", Reuters, August 17, 2000
  2. ^ "A Run to The Future", Time, April 11, 2004
  3. ^ "Afghan women's Olympic dream", BBC, June 22, 2004
  4. ^ "Afghan Athletes Train for Beijing Olympic ", Afghan embassy to the United States, April 29, 2008
  5. ^ "Afghan Woman Runs Toward Olympics Despite Jeers, Potential Danger", Associated Press, March 16, 2008
  6. ^ "Afghan Athletes Train for Beijing Olympic ", Afghan embassy to the United States, April 29, 2008


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