PARIS– Zakia Khudadadi made history on Thursday at the Paris Paralympics by ending up being the very first professional athlete from the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal.
Khudadadi won bronze in the ladies's 47kg classification after beating Turkey's Ekinci Nurcihan. When the last buzzer sounded at the Grand Palais in main Paris, Khudadadi emerged in delight, tossing her helmet and mouth piece into the air.
“It was a surreal minute, my heart began racing when I recognized I had actually won the bronze,” Khudadadi stated, her voice shaking with feeling. “I went through a lot to get here. This medal is for all the females of Afghanistan and all the refugees of the world. I hope that a person day there will be peace in my nation.”
Zakia Khudadadi of the Refugee Paralympic Team commemorates after winning the ladies's taekwondo 44 -47 kg repechage contest at the Paris Paralympic Games on Thursday.Steph Chambers/ Getty Images
Khudadadi, who was born without one lower arm, started practicing taekwondo in trick at age 11 in a surprise health club in her home town of Herat, in western Afghanistan.
Initially obstructed from contending following the increase of the Taliban in 2021, she was later on left from Afghanistan and was enabled to complete at the Tokyo Olympics for her nation following a plea from the worldwide neighborhood.
After the competitors, she settled in Paris and was later on provided the chance to take on the refugee group at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
“This medal suggests whatever to me, I will always remember that day,” Khudadadi sadi. “I won since of the excellent assistance I received from the crowd.”
The environment in the Grand Palais was electrical as the French crowd cheered her on as if she was among their own. Considering that running away Afghanistan, Khudadadi has actually been training at INSEP, France's nationwide institute of sport, in Paris with her French coach Haby Niare, a previous taekwondo world champ.
“Zakia has actually been wonderful. I do not understand how else to put it,” Niare stated, beaming with pride. “The training procedure has actually been challenging. She dealt with a great deal of injuries and she needed to discover a lot in a number of years however she never ever forgot her objective.”
“For the Refugee Paralympic Team, it's extremely unique, it's extremely crucial,” Parsons stated. “Zakia simply revealed to the world how great she is. It's an amazing journey, it's something that we need to all discover.”
