Abdul Baser Wasiqi participating in the 1996 Olympic Trials.

Abdul Baser Wasiqi (born 12 July 1975[1]) is an Afghan athlete known for completing the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics despite suffering an injury before the event.

Wasiqi represented Afghanistan at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.[2] He injured his leg (hamstring muscle) before the marathon, but took part nonetheless.[3] He completed the race despite his injury, after limping the whole way, with a time of 4:24:17, much slower than his personal best of two hours and thirty-three minutes.[4][5] He finished 111th and last, nearly an hour and a half behind the second-slowest competitor. Wasiqi reached the stadium and found "workmen [...] preparing the arena for the closing ceremony" and "tarpaulin being laid across the running track".[6][7] Preparations were suspended long enough for Wasiqi to reach the finish line.

Wasiqi was the only Afghan competitor at the 1996 Games.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Abdul Baser Wasiqi". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Official Report of the 1996 Olympic Games (PDF). Vol. 3. International Olympic Committee. 1997. p. 106 – via LA84 Digital Library.
  3. ↑ "The true spirit of the Games", Reuters, August 27, 2004
  4. 1 2 "Taleban hope to get ban revoked", Reuters, August 17, 2000
  5. ↑ Olympic Track and Field, Brian Belval, 2007, ISBN 1-4042-0971-9, p.24
  6. ↑ "Britain stuck in time warp as the world races further ahead", The Telegraph, August 5, 1996
  7. ↑ "Sibson could tell Sunderland about hidings to nothing", The Guardian, January 6, 2006


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