Afghanistan at The Olympics

Afghanistan At The Olympics

Afghanistan has competed in 13 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. In 1999, Afghanistan was banned from the Olympics due to its discrimination against women under Taliban rule as well as its prohibition of sports of any kind, 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, 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.

Afghanistan sent a team of four competitors, including three men and one woman, Mehboba Ahdyar, to the Beijing Games of 2008. Ahdyar has received death threats due to her intended participation in the Games.

Afghanistan won their first summer Olympic medal during the 2008 Beijing games, with Rohullah Nikpai winning a bronze in men's Taekwondo 58 kg and at the 2012 Games with another bronze in the men's 68 kg taekwondo event. Another Afghan athlete Nesar Ahmad Bahave won two silver in Taekwendo in the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships and silver and bronze medal in the 2006 Asian Games.