Afghan Olympic Committee conducts historical ceremony to celebrate medalist’s achievements
Kabul– Afghanistan: The Afghan National Olympic committee paid tribute to the eighty athletes that have won medals in different World and Asian Sport events by hosting the biggest celebratory event of its kind ever.
The ceremony was held in the country’s biggest hall, with the participation of high ranking Afghan Government officials, ministers, parliament members, senators, civil society members, representatives of women’s rights organizations and more than five thousand athletes.
Mr. Fahim Hashimy, president of the Afghan National Olympic Committee said in his speech: “Our country is mostly known in the world for war, violence and the Taliban, but your achievements in the last 6 months in international events have made your nation proud and shown the world that your country is not only a place of war and bombing but that its people have grown up and live with sports and believe in them as a symbol of their unity.”
Mr. Hashimy added: “winning eighty medals in different international events is a major achievement for the Afghan National Olympic Committee and the sports family in the country.
Afghanistan sports federations harvested eighty gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2nd Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China , the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, Korea , the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand , the 7th Sanda Word Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia , the UAE Taekwondo Open, the international handball federation Challenge Trophy, the Fujairah Taekwondo Open, the Tajikistan Taekwondo Open, the East Asia Wushu Championship, the Pakistan International Gymnastic Tournament, the Pakistan International Cycling Tournament and a few other international sports events.
The president of the Afghan National Olympic Committee emphasized that such an achievement in a period of 6 months is unprecedented in the seventy year history of Afghan sports. He said: “The cause of such a success is the separation of the national Olympic committee from the sports directorate by a formal sentence from the Afghanistan Presidential Decree (1452) on May 19th 2014 ». He stated that: “Acceptance of an independent Olympic committee by the Afghan government is a big step toward the improvement of sports, especially Olympic sports, and these achievements will continue in the current year and in 2016 when the Olympic Games take place”. The president of the Afghan National Olympic committee said that the Afghan team is ready to participate in the Rio Olympic Games and that so far seven federations have submitted forms for participation which will be registered after evaluation. He hopes Afghanistan will win more gold and silver medals in the upcoming Olympic Games.
It was the first time in the history of the Olympic Movement in Afghanistan that such a celebration in honor of sports medalists was held and the event was financially supported by the president of the Afghan Olympic Committee.
