Sport
Afghan Paralympians’ well-being is top priority, no media access during Games
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Sunday that the well-being and mental health of two newly arrived Afghan athletes were the IPC’s top priority and so the two athletes would not be speaking to media during the Games.
Zakai Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli arrived in Tokyo on Saturday after being evacuated from the Afghan capital Kabul a week ago.
“As you can imagine, the meeting was extremely emotional, there were lots of tears from everyone in the room. It was remarkable, it really was a remarkable meeting,” said the IPC’s chief communications officer, Craig Spence.
Taekwondo athlete Khudadadi had made a video appeal for help to leave Kabul, after the pair were unable to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban swept to power, Reuters reported.