August 16, 2008	Saturday	Sha'aban 13, 1429

BEIJING, Aug 15: Afghanistan will begin winning medals at championships once they have a proper athletics track to train on, 100 metres sprinter Massoud Azizi said on Friday.

The 23-year-old Afghan failed to better his personal best of 11.11sec, finishing last behind Jamaica’s 2005 world silver medallist Michael Frater in a time of 11.45 but declared himself happy to have made his first Olympics.

“It has been a long and hard road for me and my fellow athletes through the years of the Taliban and the war but now it is easier,” said Azizi.

“Training though for the Olympics or indeed any other championships is extremely hard in Afghanistan because we do not have a proper track and we run on concrete in the stadium in Kabul.

“However, I am confident that once there is a track there is enough natural talent in the country for us to start winning medals at championship level,” he added.

Azizi, who took up athletics seven years ago, said that it had practically been impossible to train under the Taliban regime.

“It was really difficult under the Taliban regime. They would not let you train every day. I got fed up and knew I had to move somewhere to make a real go of making it in athletics.

“Thus I went to Pakistan and trained there.”

Azizi said that it was hard to get funding for training but that a benefactor had dangled a carrot in front of them with offers of performance-related bonuses.

“He encourages us to pursue our dream,” he said.

“For the Olympics he offered $60,000 for a medal, $50,000 for making the final and $5,000 for going out in the first round. This of course is on condition that we return home.”

Azizi, who will return home on Sunday after a fellow female Afghan athlete has competed in the athletics on Saturday, said just to be at an Olympics was something he had never really believed could happen in the days of the Taliban.

“It is a dream for me to be competing at this competition alongside sprinters of the quality of Asafa Powell [former world record-holder] Usain Bolt [present world record-holder] and Tyson Gay [2007 world champion],” said Azizi. “To be with them in the warm-up area and to see them run is unbelievable for me.”

Azizi, who trained in Malaysia prior to the Olympics thanks to a grant from the IOC, said that whilst he had not got near his personal best he was happy with his performance which set him up for a busy post Games programme.

“I go back and then I have a competition in Iran and then another in Indonesia. The more international experience the better I will become.”—AFP