Abdoul Razak Issoufou Alfaga (born 26 December 1994), also known as Razak Alfaga, is a Nigerien taekwondo athlete. When Issoufou was 7, his father forbade him from taking taekwondo after a cousin died from an injury in a fight. After Issoufou moved to an uncle's home in Togo four years later, he eventually got back into the sport by borrowing a friend's dobok. Eventually Issufou managed to get the support from the International Olympic Committee and train outside Africa, moving to the Taekwondo Competence Center in Friedrichshafen, Germany.Pai proibiu atleta do país mais pobre do mundo de lutar, mas ele foi e levou medalha no Rio-16
ESPN Brasil A gold medalist at the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

, Issoufou later got the silver in the African Olympic Qualifiers, enabling him to represent Niger at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro. He was chosen to be the Nigerien flagbearer at the Parade of Nations. During the taekwondo tournament, Issoufou got to the finals, making him Niger's first medallist since

Issake Dabore Issake Dabore (1940 – 25 December 2021) was a boxer from Niger who mainly fought in the light-welterweight and welterweight weight classes. Dabore competed at three Olympics; Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972. He was the first ...

in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. Despite losing the gold to

Radik Isayev Radik Isayev (born September 26, 1989 in Ukhul, Akhtynsky District, Dagestan) is a Russian-born naturalized Azerbaijani taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Ko ...

of Azerbaijan, Issoufou's silver medal was the best result ever by a Nigerien at the Olympic Games. He was the flag bearer for Niger during the closing ceremony. At the

2021 African Taekwondo Championships The 2021 African Taekwondo Championships was held in Dakar, Senegal on 5 and 6 June 2021. Results Men Women Medal table References {{DEFAULTSORT:African Taekwondo Championships 2021 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clock ...

held in Dakar, Senegal, he won the gold medal in the men's +87 kg event. He competed in the men's +80 kg event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

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* * * * 1994 births Living people Nigerien male taekwondo practitioners Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Germany Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Niger Olympic silver medalists for Niger Olympic medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics African Games gold medalists for Niger African Games medalists in taekwondo Competitors at the 2015 African Games Competitors at the 2019 African Games World Taekwondo Championships medalists Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Olympics African Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Nigerien people Zarma-Songhai people {{Niger-taekwondo-bio-stub