United States (red) fights Nesar Ahmad Bahave of Afghanistan (blue)




Nesar Ahmad Bahave (نثاراحمد بهاوي) (born on March 28, 1985) are from Afghanistan Taekwondo practitioners. He won a Silver Medal in the lightweight category (72kg) at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships, edging out 2004 Olympic champion Hadi Saei in the semifinals. It was the first international medal for Afghanistan in any sport.

He won the bronze medal in the light of 2006 Asian Games, and competed in-68 kg category in the 2008 Summer Olympics. On 8 August 2008 at the inauguration of the Beijing Olympics, he was a flagbearer for Afghanistan


The whole world will be served lord of the family taekwondos four Olympic travellers.

Nes Ahmad Bahaves history, we never hear because there is no one from Afghanistan who are here and write it.

Nes Ahmad Bahave is a role model at home in Afghanistan and a 23-year-old with the potential to unite a wounded country and a divided nation. This is what I heard on TV. I would have liked to ask me to own answer, but here in Beijing is not the issue. Afghanistan's overall strength of TV people, journalists and photographers is - zero. This Thursday morning in taekwondoarenan lose Nes Ahmad Bahave his first match in the 68-kilosklassen. Five minutes later, I am alone in a mixed zone and waiting for Bahave, which, according to the information I have received up not speak English. I call his attention, but he passes without even looking at me. I can live with it, but it is tragic that no one from his home is here and try to ask questions.

Nes Ahmad Bahaves opponents in the first round are Mark Lopez from the United States, the nation that on 7 October 2001 invaded and began to bomb the Afghans home country.

While this clash is about kicks and punches, but there are at least a mutual respect and all attacks can fit inside the regulatory framework. American and Afghan bow to each other, take each other's coaches in hand and after the last sack the hugs of each other.

American idrottspersonligheter are trained in transparency and despite the fact that Mark Lopez for a few hours to go a quarter-stops he and talking for a while in the mixed zone. I say that my Sweden has not been involved in a war in almost 200 years and wonder how it feels to face a guy from a country which has been fighting against the United States. Lopez responds:

-- I know nothing in the match, then it does not matter if I meet a träningskompis or a guy from Afghanistan. Then I just focused on winning. But afterwards I might think about it.

How are the tanks?

-- For me, OS a dream come true. I can only try to imagine how it feels for Nes, who comes from a country that suffered so much turbulence. It's amazing to see him here.

Mark Lopez has three siblings and all included the U.S. Olympic team in taekwondo. Mark and Diana are here to compete and Jean, who is the oldest, is the trainer. The four have a familjeblogg on the Internet and the story of the family taekwondo from Houston, Texas, is well documented in the American media. No wonder, the U.S. is the country which has the second highest number of accredited reporters and photographers here - 815 of them (China has the largest number - 1 248, Sweden, 102).

To find information on the Nes Ahmad Bahave, who was the nation's standard-bearer at the opening, are much more difficult. The only feature articles that give me something I find on the BBC website. I know that taekwondo is a major sport in Afghanistan and that there are 25 000 practitioners and 700 clubs. Bahave interviewed in their native language and saying that "we want to write history at Beijing and see our flag fly in front of the entire world".

Just as it was, on Wednesday took Rohulla Nikpai bronze in taekwondons 58-kilosklass and it was Afghanistan's first Olympic medal ever. That success will bring the people back home closer together. It said Mohammad Anwar Jekdalek, president of Afghanistan's Olympic Committee, in the same BBC reports.

-- Nes is a good role model. To the young people of Afghanistan can see him succeed may mean that they start with sports instead of drugs.