25/07/2012 World Olympic Dreams


25/07/2012

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OK, one, two, three, go! Zubair's kite and that view, we can only be

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in Kabul. Welcome to World Olympic Dreams from Afghanistan. Coming up

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in this programme - the quest of this country's only Olympic

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medallist to redefine Afghanistan. You can feel the power just coming

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right up through here. It's just amazing. The incredible story of

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double amputee Malik hoe Hamed -- Mohammed and the sport that changed

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his life. 20 years of rowing, my legs are about that big. Check out

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this - fi fingers don't meet. Plus, the athletes -- my fingers don't

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meet. Plus, the athletes risking their lives for sport, the Afghan

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women's team who play on in the face of death threats. This is

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Afghanistan as you've never seen it before. Through the stories of

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athletes who want to change how For as long as I can remember, the

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very word Afghanistan conjures up images of conflict and warfare, but

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I've been really keen to come here and especially to Kabul, to see for

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myself if somewhere among all this there might be some sport. And the

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most obvious place to start is with one man, who almost single handedly

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has transformed the very idea of the Afghan athlete. Taekwondo

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fighter, Rohullah Nikpai is without equal in Afghanistan. He is the

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only Olympic medallist in the history of this country. His bronze

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in the Beijing Olympics was a moment of national celebration, the

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like of which Afghanistan has all too few of. I'm on my way to meet

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him with my guide in Afghanistan, journalist and broadcaster, Tahir

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Qadiry. How big a star is Rohullah Nikpai? He's a really big star and

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champion in Afghanistan, because the thing is, the reason is, we

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haven't got a lot of champions over the last three decades because of

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war and he on the other hand, was the first to bring the Olympic

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medal to Afghanistan in our history and it was the first-ever medal and

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there is so much publicity on TV. He's doing ads for some of these

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telecommunications companies and for safety and sanitary in the

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country and the people mob him on the street and everybody knows him,

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from children to elders, because he has been so much on TV. It's become

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a cliche when Olympic athletes say winning a medal changes their lives,

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but it was literally true for Rohullah Nikpai. He had a huge

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reception, a new car and this fantastic new apartment from the

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prds of Afghanistan no less. President of Afghanistan no less.

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Welcome. His quality of life was transformed by Beijing, but for him

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the medals he holds dear are worth so much more than the personal

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wealth they have brought him. Winning medals is becoming a habit

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for him. Last year, in the tae kwon do world championships in Korea he

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consolidated his position as one of the best in his sport, with another

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bronze medal. Proving he's -- his 2008 Olympic bronze wasn't just a

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Nearly four years on from that medal me formance in Beijing and

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Rohullah still uses this gym and it's the place where he started out

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on the outskirts of Kabul. It's a domestic house that's been

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converted and you can see it's not even the correct width for a proper

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taekwondo mat. For sure, Rohullah will fight plenty of athletes in

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London with better training facilities than these. But from

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what I saw his competitors would be foolish to underestimate the man

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from Kabul. Force and power. I can feel the power just coming right up

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through here and the most worrying thing is you can't even - from the

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moment his foot leaves the floor, you can't see it. Thank you. An

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Olympic medal is always a turning point for any athlete. It's the

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moment when years of hard work in private in places like this, become

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a matter of mass pride and of public celebration. That's more

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true of Rohullah than many Olympic athletes. For him, the private and

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the public are the same thing. He believes that if he fights hard

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enough as an individual his country might just be the better for it too.

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One of the many remarkable things about Kabul is how normal things

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here seem. At times you forget there's a war on. Like anywhere

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else, many Afghans have jobs to do, people to meet, lives to live. But

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equally, this being Afghanistan, there are reminders of this

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country's recent past around every corner. Of all the weird sights,

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this place is probably the pinnical. On a windy hill top right in the

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middle of the city is almost an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It's a

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quarter full and perched on the end is this diving platform. It's been

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here for years and the truth is that the Taliban would bring their

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victims here, march them up on to the board and either shoot them

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there, or from the end of the pool and the bodies would fall into that

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water. Hundreds of them apparently. It's really grim. Afghanistan still

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has a long way to go before swimming pools represent sport,

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rather than conjuring up dark memories. This empty, unused pool

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is a depressing sign of that. But there are glimmers of hope too.

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Meet the Afghanistan water polo team. The squad made up of farmers,

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shopkeepers and soldiers is the brainchild of a US marine who is

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hoping they can qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. It's a tall

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order, though. This is what they are up against. This is one of only

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about a dozen swimming pools in the whole of Afghanistan. It's outside

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though and in winter it's completely unusable and sport

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politics being what it is, the swimmers train here. The water polo

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players have to find somewhere else. When I catch up with them they're

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training in an indoor pool as the guests of a local businessman. It's

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a one-off, organised, we think, because we are filming. It's not

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going according to plan. A couple of problems. There are no goals

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that I can see and a bit of confusion down the other end,

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because there's no water poll low ball, so someone has been sent to

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buy one and hopefully we'll have some sport to watch in a minute or

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two. Eventually a ball, albeit a football, turns up and training can

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get under way. As sporting struggles go, it would take a lot

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to beat the Afghan water polo team. There is no tradition of aquatic

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sports in this land-locked country. Three of the team have been killed

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in the war and the plan for a month's training in America is

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being blocked because of fears that You can't help feeling it will be

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well beyond 2016 before these players have a hope of holding

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their own internationally. Even so, Rohullah Nikpai's Olympic medal in

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2008 is proof enough to these players that it can be done. In

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Afghanistan perhaps more than anywhere else in the world,

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sporting dreams survive against overwhelming odds. The emergence of

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waterpolo and other fledgling sports here reveals wider truths

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about the struggle going on in Afghanistan. As a whole. Something

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I'm keen to know more about from Tahir Qadiry. Just tell me what

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sport means in Afghanistan at the moment. Well, sport means quite a

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lot after the fall of the Taliban. The two great achievements

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Afghanistan has, one was the freedom in press and then sport.

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You saw an explosion of sports in Afghanistan and athletes coming

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from the middle of nowhere really, like the cricket for example.

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That's a great example. They came out of the ashes and then they

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became like a global phenomenon. These athletes with very little

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facilities, they try to express themselves and express their

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identities through a different way. And to introduce a new image from

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Afghanistan, other than the usual one, which is always associated

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with war and drugs. Redefining what it means to be not just an Afghan,

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but an Afghan athlete is also what is driving 18 -year-old Malik

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Mohammed. I lost my legs by a landmine. The bomb was from the

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Russian people. It was a minefield. I lost both of my legs and there

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were two bombs. I came down and another one went off. Two in a row?

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Yes. Those two bombs planted before he was even born changed Malik's

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life unmathably. After injury and horror, came the realisation that

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he was now part of a kind of underclass. In Afghanistan the

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disabled are all too often regarded as invisible, or even worthless.

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have one million disabled or paralysed like me in Afghanistan.

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They are very poor families. They cannot do work or do anything in

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Kabul city or wherever they are, so this is a big problem between

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disabled and not. He was flown to the US for treatment. Several years

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not just of American medical care, but also of education changed his

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life again. He met former Presidents, made new friends and

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discovered sport. He returned to Kabul not just as a track athlete,

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but also as a swimmer, with a sense of self-worth, which might

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otherwise have alluded him. What would your life be like without

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sport? If I didn't do sport I would be a simple person and I would stay

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at home and do nothing and watch only TV, so now I'm a sportsmen and

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people call me an athlete and hero, It's amazing what sport can do for

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people in Afghanistan in the days and months after Malik lost his

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legs, the chances were he was going to become almost a pariah in Afghan

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society. Now he's a hero for the whole country. This summer in

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London, Malik hopes to represent Afghanistan in the 2012 Paralympic

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Games. He'll be banishing some personal demons for sure. But if he

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can change what it means to have a disability here, then perhaps the

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biggest impact from his efforts in London will be felt back at home.

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There are so many sporting stories to be told in Afghanistan. The lid

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has been lifted here. Afghans are throwing themselves into all kinds

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of sports. Not all the trends here are new though. There is one craze

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in particular which, like cricket, went on during the Taliban but is

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now booming like never before. Tell me about bodybuilding? Why is

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that such a big sport in Afghanistan? Well, maybe you are

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not to right person because I haven't got good muscles, but I

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will answer you. You know, bodybuilding after the fall of the

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Taliban, it's one of the favourite sports in Afghanistan like, I mean,

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every Afghan, especially the youngsters you speak to, they go to

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the gym. It's not a new thing? This hasn't happened in the last two or

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three years, it's been generations? Yes, it's been going on for years

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and years, even during the Taliban. They were asked to wear pants and

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cover your legs and also some parts of your chest as well. But after

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the Taliban, now they can show each part of the body. Let me tell you

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one thing. When you go and propose a girl, one of the criterias is

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having a good body in Afghanistan so you need to have a good muscle

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to propose a good girl. To get a good woman? Xabgtsly.

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-- exactly. If that's true, then these guys should have no trouble

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This is lunch time in Kabul in one of many weightlifting gyms and

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these bodybuilders have put on a show specifically for us, it has to

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be said. I've been in plenty of gyms in my life, but I've never

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seen anything like this. This gym is brand-new. It brings

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the number in Kabul alone to around 200. The sport, if you can call it

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that, isn't just about spending hours in gyms though.

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All of these bodybuilders regularly compete in contests that take place

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right across the country, culminating every year in the Mr

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Afghanistan competition. Contestants are scored on different

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parts of the body so knowing how to flex on demand is crucial.

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So check this out, 20 years of rowing, my legs are, oh, about that

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big. Check out this. Bicep. My fingers don't meet! Jabar Hotak

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could have been the next Rohullah Nikpai. His first sport was tae

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kwon do. Before too long, bodybuilding became his obsession

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though. It's a passion which climaxed with him being crowned

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many Afghanistan in 2009. Now, as a trainer, he's uniquely placed to

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Where there are prizes, of course there is cheating.

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Notably steroids. These bodybuilders all say they

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rely on weight lifting alone to build up their muscle, but they

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know plenty of people here willing to turn to chemicals to gain an

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advantage. So why is this place called the

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Bush Bazaar? Well, after the former President of the United States...

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Tahir brought me to a market where steroids are for sale. When the

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Taliban fell from power, people started setting up markets like

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this one because most of you can find most of the American stuff

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here where the soldiers don't consume them, then they bring them

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here and preem just try to buy. we have obviously seen the

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bodybuilders within they are looking for the supplements or

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steroids, is this the right place to come? You have come to the right

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place. Here you can get everything! Steroids, weight gainer. Is this

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something people are worried about? The thing is, there is not so much

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knowledge about this, not so much publicity. The recent report I

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heard was a friend who died of using too much steroids, so that

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was like a Big Bang, like that was a warning for all people. Doping is

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certainly a very worrying part of this sport. Testing is still only

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sporadic and while there remains a real chance of not being caught,

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plenty of bodybuilders will continue to use.

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There is more freedom than ever in sport in Afghanistan, but there are

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many who'd argue in the world of bodybuilding at least, freedom to

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participate and freedom to abuse should not be confused.

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You are never too far from signs of conflict in Kabul. This was the gym

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where we were just filming those bodybuilders and right next door,

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that tall building is where the Taliban launched an attack from a

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few months ago. That was on to the American Embassy a couple of blocks

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that way. You can still see the bullet holes in the top of that

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building where the Americans fired back.

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Kabul is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. As a result,

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moving around, you come across checkpoints every few hundred

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metres. Stop check. Understandably, they

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don't like being filmed. In Kabul, you're constantly aware

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how dangerous things can be here. But equally, life in a high

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security world can also become very normal very quickly.

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We have been here two or three days, and you just get used to it. It's

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worrying how you get used to it. You think to begin with, it's

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completely a culture shock and now it's just normal. Armed guard, guy

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comes to the window, say what you are doing, and then you can carry

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on with life. Even though my main focus in

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Afghanistan has been sport, you're constantly hit with the evidence of

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the political side of this country's recent past.

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This is the Ghazi Stadium. If you have seen pictures of this before,

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they're unlikely to have been pleasant ones. It's here the

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Taliban used to bring people in to execute them in front of the crowds

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and even stone women to death. They stoned them to death out on

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the pitch. Nowadays, there's progress, a lovely new Astro Turf

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pitch and it's the hub of a whole sports complex which aims at

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improving Afghan team sports. Among them, the Afghanistan women's

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football team. Women's sport wasn't just

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restricted under the Taliban, it was come plaitly banned.

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The contrast between the present day and a mere 11 years ago is at

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its starkest here. As recently as 2001, any of these

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women could have been executed for what we are filming them doing

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today. That's not to say that this is

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uncontroversial even now. The role of women in Afghanistan is a battle

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that is far from settled. Many of the players here have had

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death threats. Each of the women on this pitch has their own story of

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sacrifice to tell for the love of This is where progress in sport is

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at its most delicate. Women's sport happens in Afghanistan, you could

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say despite public attitudes, not because of them.

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Even so, Sajir and the rest of her team-mates remain committed. The

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team is beginning to play internationals overseas and home

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matches have drawn surprising What happens with the women's

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football team more than any of the other athletes I've encountered

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will be a barometer of the biggest story here in Afghanistan.

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In five or ten years' time, this team may well in longer exist, or

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it may be if Sajia has anything to do with it, the Afghan women's

:25:53.:26:03.
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football team has gone from To round off our trip, you couldn't

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get a more Afghan backdrop than the presidential palace which was

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ruined in the fighting in the Civil War. But you never know with

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Afghanistan. You could come back in six months' time and that could be

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completely razed to the ground or reinvented as a Government building

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or even some sort of luxury hotel, you just don't know. And when I

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think back to the few days, it's been absolutely amazing to get

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under the skin of the place and to really witness the truth about

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Afghan sports. You think of Malik and Rahullah who're absolutely at

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the cutting edge, they're an inspiration to the whole nation and

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to generations of people coming up behind them and realising that it's

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possible to go to the Olympics or Paralympics and win medals. Then

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you think of the more rough and ready reality of Afghan sport, the

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cricket that goes on in the streets and in the towns and then, you know,

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the chaos of the Afghan Water Polo team. The only sign-off I think is

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that there can be no definitives. You can't look at the country or

:27:07.:27:11.

Kabul as a city or the political situation or indeed Afghan sport

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