Afghanistan (AFG)

Afghanistan first competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the same year in which its National Olympic Committee (NOC) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Since then the country has failed to be represented at the Olympic Games of 1952, 1976, 1984, 1992, and 2000. Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC in 1999, and it was not eligible to compete at Sydney, because the NOC did not follow the Olympic Charter, most notably the prohibitions against women in sport brought on by the ruling Taliban. After the Afghan War of 2001-2002, Afghanistan formed a new National Olympic Committee and competed in 2004 at Athens and 2008 in Beijing. Afghanistan has never competed at the Olympic Winter Games. Through the 20th century, the most successful Afghani at the Olympic Games had been Sayed Yusuf who won a gold medal in 1928 as a member of the Indian hockey (field) team. But in 2008 at Beijing, Rohullah Nikpai won a bronze medal in men’s flyweight taekwondo, the first medal won by an Afghani athlete representing Afghanistan. Four years later Nikpai was able to win again bronze for his home country, this time in the featherweight class.