The two Afghan Paralympic athletes hosted by France

Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli landed on French soil on Friday.

The two Afghan athletes who participated in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo were welcomed by France, announced the Minister Delegate for Sport Roxana Maracineanu this Friday (September 10). “They wanted to go back to France and we welcomed them like thousands of Afghans“, assured the minister to the press.

These two athletes, Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli, whose participation in the Paralympic Games was nearly impeded by the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan, landed on French soil shortly after the closing of the Games, whose closing ceremony took place in. Sunday.

These two athletes had already passed through France in August. The Ministry of Sports, in collaboration with the Ministry of Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, actually managed to evacuate them from Kabul to Paris just days before the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games on 24 August.

We managed to get these athletes out of Kabul, so we insisted that these athletes could rest (…) and train.“, at the National Institute of Expertise and Sports Performance (Insep), recalled Roxana Maracineanu. Arriving on August 28 in Tokyo, they were welcomed by the president of the CIP, Andrew Parsons, upon arriving on Japanese soil. They were able to participate in their respective events, taekwondo for Zakia Khudadadi and 400m in athletics for Hossain Rasouli, who lost his left arm in a mine explosion.

I followed them a bit [à Tokyo]. You know I have a past very close to theirs since I also arrived in France as a refugee (in 1984, from the editor’s note from Romania), so I’m very sensitive to their situation today“, added the minister.

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I also know the dangers that threaten them and their families.“, specified Roxana Maracineanu who did not want to talk more about her situation”For security reasons

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