Abdoul Razak Issoufou Alfaga (born 26 December 1994), also known as Razak Alfaga, is a
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagestaekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
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
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
four years later, he eventually got back into the sport by borrowing a friend's
dobok
Dobok is the uniform worn by practitioners of Korean martial arts. ''Do'' means "way" and ''bok'' means "clothing." The dobok is came from the Japanese '' keikogi/dōgi'', used in Japanese martial arts, such as judo.
The dobok comes in many co ...
. Eventually Issufou managed to get the support from the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
and train outside Africa, moving to the Taekwondo Competence Center in
Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...
ESPN Brasil
ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996, 2000, ...
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 ...
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
Parade of Nations
The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...
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. ...
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
, 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 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 1 ...