Taekwondo Bronze Is A First for Afghanistan

With success came better training conditions. After being selected for the national team six months ago, he was able to use a special gymnasium.

But in a country where sports take a distant place behind the realities of war, few resources are dedicated to training athletes. "My training situation is a lot like the situation in my country," Nikpai said. "It's not good."

Gayezabi had a lucky few hours of electricity that allowed him to watch his former teammate's victory. He feared he would only be able to listen on the radio since Kabul averages about four hours of municipal electricity a day.

"I was crying because I was remembering back when we were both on the Afghan refugee taekwondo team in Iran," Gayezabi said.

Only four Afghan athletes came to Beijing, representing a country that had never won an Olympic medal and is sinking ever deeper into war as the Taliban insurgency escalates.

Sprinter Robina Muqimyar -- who in 2004 broke the gender barrier on the Afghan Olympic team -- was last in a field of 85 women in the 100 meters, with a time of 14.80. She ran with a scarf covering her head. Teammate Massoud Azizi finished 76th in the men's 100. He trains at Kabul's National Stadium, where the Taliban once staged regular public executions, wearing jogging shoes because his spikes won't dig into the track's cracked, concrete surface.

But Nikpai has claimed a spot among his sport's elite.

Afghanistan will get another chance at a medal in taekwondo. Nesar Ahmad Bahave is competing in a heavier weight class.

Hussein Rachmati, a taekwondo teacher who works in the gym where Nikpai trains, said Nikpai prepared for the Olympics with a Korean teacher. He placed second in the World Taekwondo Federation's qualifying event in Vietnam last year.

The top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the Olympic win shows that Afghanistan can compete on the global stage against the world's best athletes.

"Young people should draw hope and inspiration from this Olympic win," Eide said in a statement. "Today, Afghanistan has demonstrated that it can and will succeed in the face of adversity with the determination, commitment and hard work of its most precious resource -- the young people of Afghanistan."

Ehsanullah Bayat, chairman of the Afghan Wireless Communication Company, earlier announced that he would award any Afghan athlete who won an Olympic bronze $10,000, along with $50,000 for a gold medal and $25,000 for a silver, said Khalid Andisha, a spokesman for AWCC.

"It is a great victory for Afghanistan," said Mohammad Sukran, an 18-year-old student. "In a country like Afghanistan, the only thing we hear about all the time is violence and fighting. This is finally good news for Afghanistan."