Tokyo Paralympic Digest: Afghanistan’s Hossain Rasouli ‘super excited’ to compete | DW | 31.08.2021

The long jump isn’t Hossain Rasouli’s preferred discipline — he had actually qualified for a different Paralympic event entirely, the men’s 100m T47. But that was before Taliban militants overran the Afghan capital, Kabul a couple of weeks ago.  Rasouli and fellow Afghan Paralympian Zakia Khudadadi, who is to compete in taekwondo on Thursday, found themselves trapped, apparently with no chance of getting to Tokyo. 

With their Paralympic dream seemingly stymied and no other Afghan athletes in Tokyo, a Paralympics volunteer symbolically carried the country’s flag during the Games opening ceremony. 

Over the weekend though, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) officials revealed that the Afghan pair had been successfully flown out of the country. After a stop in Dubai, they were taken to Paris and spent a week at the French sports ministry’s high-performance training center before flying on to Tokyo, where they arrived on Saturday evening.

Rasouli emerged from the athletes’ entrance with a wave to team officials dotted around the mostly empty Olympic Stadium. The 26-year-old, whose left hand was amputated as the result of a mine explosion, then proudly pointed towards the Afghanistan Paralympic Committee logo on his vest. 

His last-place finish wasn’t particularly surprising, as it was the first time he had competed in the long jump in a major competition.  

Given the situation in their homeland, it’s hardly surprising that the IPC is shielding the two Afghan athletes from the media. So the only indication of how Rasouli felt about his performance came from an IPC spokesman, who said prior to the event that he had been “super excited to be competing today.”  

Sometimes it really isn’t all about winning a medal.  

Germany news

Germany climbed up the medals table on Day 7 with numerous highlights, beginning with Annika Zeyen who won gold in the hand-bike road time trial.  

Her victory was notable in a number of respects, starting with the fact that she had postponed her wedding to compete in Tokyo. Her fiance was the first to congratulate her — by phone.   

The International Paralympic Committee brand manager is also the only IPC employee competing at the Games. Not just that, but this is her second gold medal, the previous one having come in wheelchair basketball in 2012 

“To win gold in two different sports is incredible. You can’t top that,” said the 36-year-old, who has only been competing in international hand bike races for two and a half years.

Jana Majunke won gold in the tricycle race at the age of 21. Her club colleague Angelika Dreock-Kaeser, 23 years older and competing in the Paralympics for the first time after a stroke, took bronze and dedicated the medal to her husband who died four weeks ago.

“He is with me in my heart,” Dreock-Kaeser said. “He so wanted me to be here. And he was so happy that we were going to win a medal.” 

Gold medals

British cycling great Sarah Storey won the C5 road time trial at Fuji International Speedway to equal swimmer Mike Kenny’s all-time British Paralympic Games record of 16 gold medals. 

“I’ve been preparing for this race for such a long time. The time trial is probably one of my favourite events,” she said afterward. 

There was also joy for Cuba’s “queen of speed” Omara Durand Elias, who took her sixth Paralympic gold in the 400m T12.

“My secret is sacrifice for training and good coaching. That is all,” said the Cuban, who is to compete in the 100m finals on Wednesday and is also aiming to make Saturday’s 200m final. 

News from Tokyo

There was bitter disappointment for US “armless archer” Matt Stutzman, one of the world’s most recognizable Paralympians. Stutzman missed out on a medal in the men’s compound open class on Tuesday when he fell in the last 16, with a performance that was far below his best.

“I felt like crap. That’s the polite way to say it,” he admitted afterward. “That was one of my worst scores I’ve shot in probably five years.”

However, undeterred, the 2015 world champion, who uses his mouth and feet to shoot, vowed to be back for Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.