Para taekwondo star Zakia Khudadadi wins European Championship gold for France
Para taekwondo star Khudadadi topped the podium at the European Championships in Munich, Germany 12 May 2026
Zakia Khudadadi, who won the Refugee Paralympic Team’s first-ever Paralympic medal at Paris 2024, continued to make history, this time topping the podium at the European Para Taekwondo Championships in Munich, Germany.
Representing France for the first time in international competition, Khudadadi won gold in the women’s K44 -47 kg division, beating Turkiye’s Nurcihan Ekinci Gul in the final.
Khudadadi celebrated the special moment with coach Haby Niare and teammates, who sang as the French national anthem was played during the victory ceremony.
“For the second time, I am the European Champion,” said Khudadadi, who topped the podium three years ago at Rotterdam 2023.
Georgia's Lia Chachibaia and Turkiye's Busra Emire took bronze.
The European Championships feature 10 Para taekwondo medal events across four days of competition at the BMW Park Munich.
Making history
Khudadadi secured the bronze medal in the women’s K44 -47 kg category at Paris 2024, becoming the first-ever Refugee Paralympic Team athlete to win a medal.
The public was behind her in every bout at the iconic Grand Palais in the French capital, her home since leaving Afghanistan just a week before the postponed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games took place.
“For three years I’ve been a professional taekwondoka, and today I’ve won because behind me there is the French Republic, the refugee team, and my best coach, Haby Niare. We’ve all won today,” she told reporters in Paris.
Khudadadi took up Para sport when she was nine years old with the goal of competing at the Paralympic Games. She made her Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, becoming Afghanistan’s first female Paralympian since Athens 2004.
How Zakia Khudadadi went from refugee medalist to European champion for France 🌍🥇
