Afghanistan at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Afghanistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, which were held from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the eleventh appearance of the nation in the Summer Olympics and their first since their reinstatement to the International Olympic Committee in 2003 following a four-year ban due to the Taliban government's discrimination against women and their opposition to them playing sports. The delegation consisted of five athletes: sprinters Masoud Azizi and Robina Muqimyar, boxer Basharmal Sultani, judoka Friba Rezayee and wrestler Bashir Ahmad Rahmati. Muqimayar and Rezayee's inclusion in the Afghan delegation marked the first time the country sent a woman athlete to a Summer Olympics. All five failed to progress any further than the preliminary round of their respective sports and Afghanistan's best performance at the Games was by Muqimayar who set a new national women's 100 metre record in her heat.

Background

Afghanistan first sent a delegation to compete in the Summer Olympics in 1936 Berlin Games. They have competed in every Summer Olympics since, missing the Olympics only in five occasions between 1936 and 2004. These were in 1952, 1976, 1984, 1992 and 2000. Afghanistan was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in October 1999 and subsequently banned from the 2000 Sydney Olympics due to its discrimination against women under the rule of the Taliban and its prohibition of women's sports. Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the IOC helped local authorities to establish a new National Olympic Committee. Muqimayar and Rezayee's inclusion in the team was the first time Afghanistan sent women athletes to a Summer Olympics. All five athletes trained in Afghanistan and later with Iranian coaches in Tehran before travelling to Thessalonki in the run up to the Games. Neema Surgatar, a coach for the Afghanistan team, was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, while another coach, Kosia Akashi, carried it at the closing ceremony.

Athletics

Competing at his first Olympic Games at the age of 18, Masoud Azizi was the only male athlete to compete for Afghanistan in athletics competition. He qualified for the Athens Games after being granted a wild card place because his best time of 11.16 seconds set during practice in the men's 100 metres was 0.88 seconds slower than the event's "B" Olympic qualifying standard. In an interview before the Games, Azizi said, "I am very proud to be with the other world champions. I will introduce myself to them.", Azizi would go on to represent Afghanistan twice more at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She qualified for the Olympics after the IOC gave her a wild card place as her best time of 13.76 seconds was 1.74 seconds slower than the "B" Olympic qualifying standard for the women's 100 metres. Her family consented to her competing in Athens. Judoka Stig Traavik scouted Muqimyar who began training on a deteriorating track at Ghazi Stadium twice a week, sometimes barefooted but always away from men for fear of harassment and assault. Before the Games, she told the BBC World Service of her desire to be a role model for Afghan women. On 20 August 2004, Muqimyar took part in the seventh heat, finishing seventh out of eight runners, with a national record time of 14.14 seconds. She was eliminated from competition as only the top three from each heat and the next ten fastest overall among all ten heats progressed to the next round. She represented Afghanistan again at the 2008 Beijing Games. He received a wild card invitation to participate in the Games from the IOC after failing to attain an automatic qualifying spot with his third-place finish in the Asian qualifying rounds for the welterweight category. Although he was defeated, Sultani was applauded by the small crowd of spectators and said of his participation in the Olympic Games to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "This was a great moment in my life, and it will be the same for other athletes when they compete."

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

!rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!scope="col"|Round of 32

!scope="col"|Round of 16

!scope="col"|Quarterfinals

!scope="col"|Semifinals

!colspan=2|Final

|-style="font-size:95%"

!scope="col"|Opposition Result

!scope="col"|Rank

|-align=center

|align=left|Basharmal Sultani

|align=left|Welterweight

| L 12–40

|colspan=5|Did not advance She used a wild card from the IOC to qualify for the Games despite the International Judo Federation hesitant in allowing low-ranked fighters participating in the quadrennial event. In her Round of 32 match against Cecilia Blanco of Spain on 18 August, she lost after 42 seconds without earning one point. Under the Olympic Solidarity programme, which aids underdeveloped NOCs in establishing their national and regional sporting structures, Rahamati qualified to compete at Athens in the men's featherweight class (55 kg) of wrestling through a tripartite invitation from the International Federation of Associated Wrestling. He lost two straight matches in the elimination pool to Uzbekistan's Dilshod Mansurov and Russia's Mavlet Batirov, who went on to win the Olympic gold medal at the end of the tournament, with a greater superiority effort, finishing last in the preliminary pool and twenty-second overall in the final standings.

Key:

– Victory by Fall.
– Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
– Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.

;Men's freestyle

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

!rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!colspan=3|Elimination Pool

!scope="col"|Quarterfinal

!scope="col"|Semifinal

!colspan=2|Final /

|-style="font-size: 95%"

!scope="col"|Opposition Result

!scope="col"|Rank

!scope="col"|Opposition Result

!scope="col"|Rank

|-align=center

|align=left|Bashir Ahmad Rahmati

|align=left|−55 kg

| L 0–4

|colspan=3|Did not advance

|22