Afghanistan at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Afghanistan at the
2012 Summer Olympics
Afghanistan at the; 2012 Summer Olympics
IOC code	AFG
NOC	Afghanistan National Olympic Committee
in London
Competitors	6 in 4 sports
Flag bearer	Nesar Ahmad Bahave (opening) Rohullah Nikpai (closing)
Medals ; Ranked 79th	Gold0Silver0Bronze1Total1
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1936 ; 1948 ; 1952; 1956 ; 1960 ; 1964 ; 1968 ; 1972 ; 1976; 1980 ; 1984; 1988 ; 1992; 1996 ; 2000; 2004 ; 2008 ; 2012 ; 2016 ; 2020 ; 2024 ;

Last updated September 23, 2024

Afghanistan competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Six Afghan athletes were selected for the Games, competing in four different sporting events. Rohullah Nikpai, who won Afghanistan's first ever Olympic medal at the 2008 Games, managed to repeat his bronze medal in the men's 68 kg taekwondo event for the second time.

Medalists

The following Afghan competitors won medals at the Games. In the 'by discipline' sections below, medallists' names are in bold.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Bronze	Rohullah Nikpai	Taekwondo	Men's 68 kg	9 August

Athletics

Afghanistan has selected two athletes by wildcard. Both athletes competed in the 100 m sprint and did not qualify to the quarterfinals. Tahmina Kohistani might have been the slowest runner in the women's 100m, however; taking part at the Olympics was considered a triumph due to the pressures against women in sport.^[2] Kohistani wishes that her performance would inspire other Afghan women to enter sports.^[2]

Key

Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
NR = National record
N/A = Round not applicable for the event
Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Massoud Azizi	Men's 100 m	11.19	6	did not advance
Tahmina Kohistani	Women's 100 m	14.42	9	did not advance

Boxing

Afghanistan was given a tripartite invitation to compete in boxing.^[3] Despite losing in the first round, boxer Ajmal Faisal enjoyed the Olympic experience, stating that there is a lack of boxing facilities and opposition by the Taliban and other political groups towards boxing. He also credited AIBA for providing a training camp for him and other fighters in order to "compete and last for three rounds against tougher opponents."^[4]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Ajmal Faisal	Men's flyweight	Oubaali (FRA) L 9–22	did not advance

Judo

Afghanistan's Ajmal Faizzada was given an invitation to compete in judo and competed in the -66 kg weight class.^[5] He lost to Hungary's Miklós Ungvári in the first round match by harai makikomi.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Ajmal Faizzada	Men's −66 kg	Ungvári (HUN) L 0000–0100	did not advance

Taekwondo

Afghanistan qualified two male athletes through their performance at the 2011 Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament. 2008 Olympic and 2011 World bronze medalist Rohullah Nikpai competed in the -68 kg category and 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Nesar Ahmad Bahave competed in the -80 kg category. Rohullah Nikpai managed repeat his performance from Beijing four years ago in a heavier weight category by winning the bronze medal after defeating Great Britain's Martin Stamper. Nesar Ahmad Bahave also advanced to the bronze medal match; however, having severe injuries throughout the entire competition, he was unable to defeat Italy's Mauro Sarmiento, and was taken to the hospital shortly after the match.^[6] Despite his defeat, Bahave earned much respect from his people in Afghanistan.^[6]

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Bronze Medal	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Rohullah Nikpai ^[7]	Men's −68 kg	Łoniewski (POL) W 12–5	Motamed (IRI) L 4–5	Did not advance	Boui (CAF) W 14–2	Stamper (GBR) W 5–3	Did not advance
Nesar Ahmad Bahave ^[7]	Men's −80 kg	Chernoubi (MAR) W 4–3	Crismanich (ARG) L 1–9	Did not advance	Scott (NZL) W 11–6	Sarmiento (ITA) L 0–4	Did not advance	5

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References

↑ Staff (27 July 2012). "London 2012 Opening Ceremony – Flag Bearers" (PDF). Olympics . Retrieved 15 June 2012.
1 2 To Tahmina, just taking part in the Olympics was her triumph
↑ AIBA Tripartite Selection
↑ "Sweet defeat! Afghan boxer knocked out by Olympic experience". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
↑ IntJudo – Invited Country to take part at the London Games Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
1 2 "Afghanistan unites behind Olympic success". Guardian.co.uk. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
1 2 "Asian Qualification Tournament for London 2012 – Medallists" (PDF). World Taekwondo Federation. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.

External links

""Afghanistan – Athletes" at the London 2012 Olympics". Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2016-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[london2012ocfb-1] Staff (27 July 2012). "London 2012 Opening Ceremony – Flag Bearers" (PDF). Olympics . Retrieved 15 June 2012.

[Tahmina-2] 1 2 To Tahmina, just taking part in the Olympics was her triumph

[3] AIBA Tripartite Selection

[4] "Sweet defeat! Afghan boxer knocked out by Olympic experience". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-08-18.

[5] IntJudo – Invited Country to take part at the London Games Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine

[Taekwondo_success-6] 1 2 "Afghanistan unites behind Olympic success". Guardian.co.uk. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.

[WTF_Asia-7] 1 2 "Asian Qualification Tournament for London 2012 – Medallists" (PDF). World Taekwondo Federation. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.

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v t e National Olympic Committees at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom
Africa	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
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Asia	Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Chinese Taipei Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
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Oceania	American Samoa Australia Cook Islands Fiji Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Others	Independent Olympic Athletes

v t e Afghanistan at the Summer Olympics
1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Afghanistan did not participate in 1976 due to a boycott, in 1984 due to a boycott and was barred from the 2000 Summer Olympics to its discrimination against women under the rule of the Taliban.