Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
sent a team to compete at the
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
China. The team consisted of three men and one woman.
["Afghan Athletes Train for Beijing Olympic "]
, Afghan embassy to the United States, April 29, 2008 Initially,
Mehboba Ahdyar prepared to run the
800 metres
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...
and
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...
,
[ but left her training camp on June 4 to seek ]political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...
in Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
.Fears ease after missing Afghan athlete found
Times of London, July 10
The country was represented by two competitors in
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
, and two in
taekwondo
''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 ...
.
[ Afghanistan won its first ever Olympic medal at these games, with ]Rohullah Nikpai
Rohullah Nikpai ( prs, روحالله نیکپا; born June 15, 1987) is an ethnic Hazara taekwondo practitioner and two-time Olympic bronze medalist from Afghanistan.
Career
Nikpai started his training in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of ...
taking bronze in men's 58 kg taekwondo.
Medalists
Athletics
Competitors in athletics events could qualify for the next round of competition in two ways. Qualifying by right involved ranking high enough in their heat, and qualifying by result meant ranking high enough in overall standings. Ranks shown are therefore those within each heat, not in overall standings.
;Men
;Women
Taekwondo
References
{{Country at games navbox, Afghanistan, Summer Olympics
Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Olympics