Zakia and fellow Afghan Paralympian Hossain Rasouli will now officially compete in the Paralympics after escaping Kabul.
Due to the serious ongoing situation in the country
, all airports are closed and there is no way for them to travel to Tokyo," the International Paralympic Committee told NPR on Monday."We hope the team and officials remain safe and well during this difficult time." An IPC spokesperson further told POPSUGAR that the athletes are still eligible to compete and confirmed that it's up to the National Paralympic Committee of Afghanistan to change the athletes' participation status.. . .
In an interview with Reuters, IPC President Andrew Parsons said he had watched Khudadadi's video and"and this is shattering the dreams of one of our athletes, it is really sad and it really breaks my heart." Parsons noted that the IPC would work with the Afghan national team to support Khudadadi if she were to have her sights set on Paris 2024 but that it's too soon to make plans.
"This is the first time that a female athlete will be representing Afghanistan at the Games and I’m so happy.”