Hero's welcome for Afghanistan's first Olympic medallist

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan's first Olympic medallist received a hero's welcome Thursday from hundreds of beaming fans and dignitaries who hailed him as the "pride of the nation".

Rohullah Nikpai, who won a bronze in taekwondo, was greeted along with his three teammates at Kabul airport by scores of officials, who escorted him through the streets of the capital to a ceremony in the city's stadium.

Fans and dignitaries chanted "Nikpai, the pride of the nation" and "Long Live Afghanistan" as the Olympian's flower- and ribbon-bedecked cavalcade arrived at the venue.

"Nikpai brought pride to Afghanistan," Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili told the gathering of around 4,000 people, as the 21-year-old athlete -- wearing his white taekwondo uniform and his medal...