Rasouli gets his chance to compete in Tokyo as he is one of two Afghan athletes to be safely evacuated from Afghanistan

It’s quite the journey. Last week Hossain Rasouli was one of thousands trying to leave Afghanistan and today (Aug 31) he competed at the Tokyo Paralympics in the men’s T64 long jump.

He finished last with a jump of 4.46m but this was one occasion where the result just simply didn’t matter.

The 26-year-old was actually registered for his favoured T47 100m but arrived too late to take part in Saturday’s heats so a compromise was sorted and after Rasouli rejected the idea of the 400m, he went for the long jump in which he had 90 minutes to prepare on Tuesday night.

American Roderick Townsend, who won the silver medal with a jump of 7.43m, didn’t know Rasouli was competing until he saw 13 names on the start list, instead of 12.

“I saw his name on there. With everything going on right now I couldn’t help but to feel joy for him,” said Townsend.

“We get so caught up in our personal lives and I am here complaining about a silver medal and [yet] we have somebody making their way across the world to be able to do something we all love to do.

“That says so much about what the Paralympic Games really means and what it stands for.”

Last week Hossain Rasouli, who had his hand amputated after a mine explosion, was evacuated out of Kabul Airport ??

Today, he competed at the Paralympics in the men's T47 long jump final. pic.twitter.com/pF5iLVGhrU

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) August 31, 2021

Rasouli was one of two athletes, alongside compatriot Zakia Khudadadi, who will compete on Thursday in the women’s K44 taekwondo -49kg weight category, evacuated from Afghanistan.

After taking a top-secret flight from Paris to Tokyo, they were welcomed in the Japanese capital by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) chief Andrew Parsons and IPC Athletes’ Council chair Chelsey Gotell, as well as the Afghan team’s chef de mission Arian Sadiqi.

“Both athletes are here in Tokyo to fulfil their dreams, sending out a very strong message of hope to many others around the world,” said IPC spokesperson Craig Spence.

“As you can imagine, the meeting was extremely emotional,” said Spence. “There were lots of tears from everyone in the room. It really was a remarkable meeting.”

The pair had trained at a French sports ministry training centre after their evacuation from Kabul.

At the Paralympic opening ceremony, the Afghan flag was carried by a volunteer although none of the athletes were present.