The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Afghanistan
This page contains a list of the greatest Afghan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 7 of which were born in Afghanistan. This makes Afghanistan the birth place of the 115th most number of Athletes behind Martinique, and Zambia.
Top 9
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Afghan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Afghan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Paweł Wojciechowski (b. 0)
With an HPI of 43.45, Paweł Wojciechowski is the most famous Afghan Athlete. Their biography has been translated into 8 different languages on wikipedia.
Paweł Wojciechowski may refer to: Paweł Wojciechowski (economist) (born 1960), Polish economist Paweł Wojciechowski (footballer born 1984), Polish footballer Paweł Wojciechowski (pole vaulter) (born 1989), Polish pole vaulter Paweł Wojciechowski (footballer born 1990), Polish footballer
2. Robina Muqimyar (b. 1986)
With an HPI of 42.71, Robina Muqimyar is the 2nd most famous Afghan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Robina Jalali, also known as Robina Muqimyar (born 3 July 1986), is a former Olympic athlete who represented Afghanistan at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and in 30 international events, competing in the 100-meter sprint. She competed athletically under the name Muqimyar and ran for a seat in the lower house of Afghanistan's parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, using her family name of Jalali. She attracted international attention for running while wearing the hijab, the traditional Muslim woman's head covering. She was one of the first two women ever to represent Afghanistan at the Olympic Games, competing along judoka Friba Rezayee at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Jalali was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is one of nine children (seven girls and two boys). Her father was a businessman in the computer industry who now runs a non-profit company that teaches Afghan women how to sew. Jalali was home schooled during the era of the Taliban when schooling for girls was forbidden. She attended school after 2001. Describing life under the Taliban, she has said: "There was nothing for us girls to do under the Taliban. You couldn't go to school. You couldn't play, you couldn't do anything. You were just at home all the time."
3. Zakia Khudadadi (b. 1998)
With an HPI of 38.02, Zakia Khudadadi is the 3rd most famous Afghan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Zakia Khudadadi (Hazaragi: ذکیه خدادادی; born 29 September 1998) is a Hazara parataekwondo practitioner. She is the first Afghan female taekwondo practitioner. She rose to prominence after winning the African International Parataekwondo Championship in 2016 at the age of 18. She represented Afghanistan at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She was initially denied the opportunity to compete at her first Paralympics due to the Taliban takeover but was later allowed by the International Paralympic Committee to compete in the event after being safely evacuated from Afghanistan. She was able to compete and became the first Afghan female Paralympic competitor to compete at the Paralympics in 17 years since Mareena Karim's participation at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. She also officially became the first Afghan female sportsperson to participate in an international sporting event after the Taliban takeover and the first-ever member of the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal.
4. Masoud Azizi (b. 1985)
With an HPI of 36.46, Masoud Azizi is the 4th most famous Afghan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Masoud Azizi (Dari / Persian: مسعود عزیزی; born 2 February 1985) is an Afghan athlete. His personal best time in the 100m sprint is 11.11 seconds, achieved in April 2005 in Mecca. In 2013 Azizi failed a doping test at the 2013 World Championships, and was suspended for two years.
5. Nesar Ahmad Bahave (b. 1984)
With an HPI of 35.68, Nesar Ahmad Bahave is the 5th most famous Afghan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Nesar Ahmad Bahawi (Persian: نثار احمد بهاوی), born March 27, 1984, in Kapisa Province) is an Afghan Taekwondo practitioner. He won the silver medal in the lightweight category (72 kg) at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships, edging out 2004 Olympic Champion Hadi Saei in the semifinals. Nesar won the bronze medal in the lightweight category at the 2006 Asian Games, and represented Afghanistan in the -68kg category at the Beijing Olympics, where he also acted as flagbearer in the opening ceremony. Nesar won the gold medal in the 2009 Asian Martial Arts Games for taekwondo in the 72 kg weight range category. In 2010, he won the silver medal in the men's under 80 kg category at the 2010 Asian Games. Nesar acted as flagbearer for Afghanistan again at the 2012 London Olympics, where he competed in the -80 kg category. On August 10, while suffering from a leg injury, he advanced from the preliminaries to the quarterfinals where he was defeated by Sebastián Crismanich of Argentina. As Sebastián advanced to the gold medal match, Nesar advanced to the bronze medal match, where he lost 0–4 against Mauro Sarmiento of Italy.
6. Tahmina Kohistani (b. 1989)
With an HPI of 30.25, Tahmina Kohistani is the 6th most famous Afghan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Tahmina Kohistani (Dari: تهمینه کوهستانی; born 8 June 1989, Kapisa Province) is an Afghan runner at 100 metres. Kohistani competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, making a new personal best of 14.42 seconds in the heats of the 100 metres distance. She did not advance to the first round. Her previous personal best at the 100 metres was 15.00 at a competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 2008. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
7. Abdullah Sediqi (b. 1996)
With an HPI of 19.46, Abdullah Sediqi is the 7th most famous Afghan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 6 different languages.
Abdullah Sediqi (born 25 December 1996) is a Taekwondo athlete from Afghanistan.
8. Farzad Mansouri (b. 2002)
With an HPI of 18.83, Farzad Mansouri is the 8th most famous Afghan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 6 different languages.
Farzad Mansouri (born 19 March 2002) is an Afghan taekwondo practitioner. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mansouri and Kamia Yousufi carried Afghanistan's flag at the Opening Ceremony.
9. Nigara Shaheen (b. 1993)
With an HPI of 18.12, Nigara Shaheen is the 9th most famous Afghan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 5 different languages.
Nigara Shaheen (born 7 June 1993) is an Afghan-born judoka based in Canada. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics, both times as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team.
People
Pantheon has 9 people classified as Afghan athletes born between 1984 and 2002. Of these 9, 9 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Afghan athletes include Paweł Wojciechowski, Robina Muqimyar, and Zakia Khudadadi. As of April 2024, 2 new Afghan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Zakia Khudadadi, and Nesar Ahmad Bahave.
Living Afghan Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Paweł Wojciechowski
HPI: 43.45
Robina Muqimyar
1986 - Present
HPI: 42.71
Zakia Khudadadi
1998 - Present
HPI: 38.02
Masoud Azizi
1985 - Present
HPI: 36.46
Nesar Ahmad Bahave
1984 - Present
HPI: 35.68
Tahmina Kohistani
1989 - Present
HPI: 30.25
Abdullah Sediqi
1996 - Present
HPI: 19.46
Farzad Mansouri
2002 - Present
HPI: 18.83
Nigara Shaheen
1993 - Present
HPI: 18.12
