Zakia Khudadadi: 'I hope this medal will change something for refugees'
Not all battles Zakia Khudadadi fought to reach the podium of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were held at the Grand Palais.
Khudadadi, an athlete competing with the Refugee Paralympic Team, had to struggle her whole life to finally get rewarded on Thursday 29 August. At the end of the “most incredible day” of her life, the 25-year-old won bronze in the -47 kg weight category of the Para taekwondo K44. It was hers - and the Refugee Paralympic Team's - first medal ever at the Games, an achievement which adds more weight to the already “heavy” bronze medal she was wearing while meeting the media in Paris.
“Every refugee has a different painful history, with pain, war and politics, but we won't give up until there is peace and equality in the world,” she said, after giving everything to reach the Paralympic podium.
Her own personal story began in Herat, Afghanistan, where she was born in 1998 with an atrophied arm. The disability has not stopped Khudadadi from pushing her limits and challenging those that have been imposed on her.
“I started Para taekwondo in Afghanistan and it changed my whole life. Thanks to this sport I won a bronze medal. Before, I didn't like Para taekwondo that much because I didn't have a choice when I chose a sport, but now I love it and it's a ray of sunshine in my life,” she said with a smile.
Access to sport has never been easy for her, especially as a woman, but she has been able to rely on female role models to become one in her own right.
The devotion of her mother, an inspiration for Zakia Khudadadi
When Olympics.com asked Khudadadi who has been the most impactful female figure in her life, she didn't have to think long before replying: her mother.
“She is a symbol in my life for continuing with the sport. She grew up in Afghanistan with a lot of problems. I'm the first disabled girl in the family, and my mother has fought all her life for me, to continue at school, university and club. I'm very, very proud of her, she's always been behind me, helping me with everything,” she explained.
Her close family followed her to France and were present at the Grand Palais to see her reach the Paralympic podium, in the same way boxer Cindy Ngamba had at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 a few weeks earlier. Khudadadi says Ngamba's performance “activated and motivated” her to make history for the Refugee Team.
Khudadadi's historic medal was truly special for both her and her coach, Haby Niaré. Niaré walked onto the mat and celebrated with Khudadadi, perhaps with even more joy than when she won her own Olympic silver medal in the -67kg category at Rio 2016. The coach's display of emotion in Paris was all it took to appreciate the special bond between the two women.
“She did a lot of work for me, every day at INSEP," Khudadadi said of Niaré. "This medal is 50 per cent me, 50 per cent Haby.
“Being coached by a woman is special. We're both women. She's strong, I'm strong, and together we've been able to achieve something great to inspire the girls and women of my country. Showing that is also my goal.”
And that's what makes her journey even more special.
Zakia Khudadadi out to prove anything is possible
Since 2021, the year she left Afghanistan and competed at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, Khudadadi has had to work hard and face multiple challenges as a refugee.
She was on a mission in Paris - for herself, but above all for others, and this is truer now that she is a Paralympic medallist. Her historic bronze medal will change her life and could help influence others.
“I hope this medal will make a difference for refugees in my country, Afghanistan, and for all the women and girls with disabilities who find it difficult to take up sport," she said. "I hope that seeing this medal will make them want to carry on.”
Khudadadi knows these challenges all too well. They were big, but her courage was greater. Drawing on all her resources to overcome them, she is now an inexhaustible source of inspiration for women all over the world.
“I kept going despite all the pain in my heart, in my life, in my family and with all the problems encountered as a refugee," she explained. "But it was possible, and coming home with a bronze medal proves it."
And her quest is not over yet.
While a gold medal is now on her radar for LA 2028, other challenges are already in her sight, including the possibility of competing in another sport at the Paralympic Games, with Para swimming and Para athletics among the options.
In sport and in life, no battle is too big for Zakia Khudadadi.