Terreno Deportivo A Hero’s Welcome
Afghanistan’s first Olympic medallist received a hero’s welcome on Thursday from hundreds of beaming fans. Rohullah Nikpai, who won a bronze medal in the under 58kg taekwondo competition, was greeted along with his three teammates in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Taekwondo is the most practised combat sport in Afghanistan. The country’s previous best Olympic finish was a fifth place in wrestling at the Tokyo Games in 1964.
An Olympic Solidarity scholarship holder
Rohullah Nikpai is an Olympic Solidarity scholarship holder. Olympic Solidarity has worked closely with the Afghan NOC and its taekwondo athletes since 2004 by placing them in a number of training camps across the world to perfect their skills in view of their participation in Beijing. In Beijing, there were a total of 586 athletes from 150 different nations who benefited from an Olympic Solidarity scholarship, among them several gold medallists including Abhinav Bindra, winner of the 10m air rifle competition and the first Indian ever to win an individual Olympic gold medal.
