Wushu fighter Khalid Hotak sweats in his chest padding as he spars with a teammate in a Kabul gym, defying financial worries to prepare for the Asian Games as best he can.
Afghanistan will compete in 15 sports in Hangzhou, the country's first Asian Games since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
"I would often watch Chinese films... I would watch Jet Li and I liked the strength of his body and when I learned about him I realized he was a wushu fighter," Hotak told AFP of the Chinese-born movie star. The team say the Taliban authorities support sport, but there is no government financial backing for athletes competing on the international stage.
But he admits his family's welfare still weighs on his mind and that young men have abandoned sport to focus on trying to find work. "Everyone is training at their own expense. Some of the boys say, 'Coach, we don't have the money to pay the taxi fare to attend training,'" he said.
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