(6 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France – 5 August 2024
1. Various of Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan taekwondo Paralympian, training in Bois de Vicennes park
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan taekwondo Paralympian: ++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 3++
"August 15 is a dark day for all the women and girls of Afghanistan because the Taliban took over my country and I was in Kabul preparing for the Tokyo Paralympics. In one day the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan changed and for me it was really hard to make it to Tokyo."
3. Various of Khudadadi training
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan taekwondo Paralympian: ++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 5++
"It was very, very painful. I left my country on August 17 and I left my whole life in Afghanistan. But still, I am really, really proud and strong because I’m still pushing hard for my sport, my family, for all the girls in Afghanistan and for the million of refugees today."
5. Various of Khudadadi training
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan taekwondo Paralympian: ++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 7++
"We are always behind a man, because there is no gender equality in Afghanistan. It was really hard in Afghanistan but I was the first disabled woman in my country to win the first international medal in 2016. Afterwards, I continued practicing my sport so that people, and more women, can see me and engage in and practice sports."
7. Various of Khudadadi during portrait session
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan taekwondo Paralympian: ++PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 9++
"When I fight with others in a competition, I think a lot beforehand. I think, okay Zakia, so you come from a difficult country, where today life for women and girls is very, very hard. You’re here to win the medal. You cannot give up until the end of the competition, for the medal. I show all the strength to the girls and women in my country."
9. Various of Khudadadi during portrait session
STORYLINE:
Zakia Khudadadi has spent most of her life breaking through glass ceilings.
Originally blocked from competing following the rise of the Taliban in August 2021, the Afghan taekwondo Paralympian was evacuated from the country following a plea to the international community and took part in the delayed Tokyo Games.
In the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Khudadadi said she was competing in the name of all women in her country who have gradually been stripped of basic human rights over the past three years.
Competing for the Refugee Team, she began taekwondo at the age of 11, training in secret at a gym in her city of Herat because there were simply no other opportunities for women to safely practice sports.
Despite a closed culture around her, Khudadadi said her family was open and would push her to be active, something that would help raise her to greatness.
Compounding that in Afghanistan, she said, was also her disability.
Despite having "one of the largest populations per capita of persons with disabilities in the world" due to ongoing conflict, people with disabilities are often shunned and blocked from society, according to Human Rights Watch.
Women are often disproportionately affected.
Born without one forearm, Khudadadi said she spent her entire life hiding her arm. It was only when she started competing that it began to change.
As she won medals, she said she felt that stigma began to melt away, taekwondo once again become her path to freedom, gaining notoriety when she began competing professionally in 2016.
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