Two Afghan athletes returned to Kabul early Sunday after winning medals at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they were greeted with celebrations by fans.
Muay Thai fighter Mohammad Yousuf Jahangir and taekwondo athlete Mohsen Rezaei earned gold and silver medals, respectively, for Afghanistan during the multi-sport event, which featured athletes from 57 Muslim-majority countries.
They were welcomed at Kabul airport athletes and hundreds of Kabul residents.
Jahangir, the captain of Afghanistan’s national Muay Thai team, defeated opponents from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to claim Afghanistan’s first-ever gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games.
Rezaei reached the taekwondo final after victories over competitors from Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan but was defeated by an Iranian athlete, earning a silver medal.
Another Afghan athlete, Mohammad Jafar Soltani, won a bronze medal in the wushu category.
The sixth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games ran from Nov. 4 to Nov. 21 in Riyadh. According to organizers, athletes from 57 countries competed in 21 sports. Afghanistan was represented by 69 athletes across 13 disciplines.
Turkey topped the medal table with 155 medals, followed by Uzbekistan with 96 and Iran with 81. Afghanistan ranked 26th overall with three medals.
This is Afghanistan’s second gold medal in less than a month. In October, the country’s under-17 futsal team won the Asian Youth Championship, also returning to widespread celebration across Afghanistan.
