Zakia Khudadadi of the Refugee Paralympic Team, right, celebrates after winning the women's Paraaekwondo K44 -47kg bronze-medal contest against Naoual Laarif of Team Morocco, not pictured, at the Paris Paralympics on Thursday.
Zakia Khudadadi made history on Thursday at the Paris Paralympics by becoming the first athlete from the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal.Zakia Khudadadi of the Refugee Paralympic Team, right, celebrates after winning the women's Paraaekwondo K44 -47kg bronze-medal contest against Naoual Laarif of Team Morocco, not pictured, at the Paris Paralympics on Thursday.
"It was a surreal moment, my heart started racing when I realized I had won the bronze," Khudadadi said, her voice shaking with emotion. "I went through so much to get here. This medal is for all the women of Afghanistan and all the refugees of the world. I hope that one day there will be peace in my country."
After the competition, she settled in Paris and was later offered the opportunity to compete with the refugee team at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The atmosphere in the Grand Palais was electric as the French crowd cheered her on as if she were one of their own. Since fleeing Afghanistan, Khudadadi has been training at INSEP, France's national institute of sport, in Paris with her French coach Haby Niare, a former taekwondo world champion.
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