KABUL, Aug 28: Afghanistan’s first Olympic medallist received a hero’s welcome Thursday from hundreds of beaming fans and dignitaries who hailed him as the “pride of the nation”.

Rohullah Nikpai, who won a bronze in taekwondo, was greeted along with his three teammates at Kabul airport by scores of officials, who escorted him through the streets of the capital to a ceremony in the city’s stadium.

Fans and dignitaries chanted “Nikpai, the pride of the nation” and “Long Live Afghanistan” as the Olympian’s flower- and ribbon-bedecked cavalcade arrived at the venue.

“Nikpai brought pride to Afghanistan,” Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili told the gathering of around 4,000 people, as the 21-year-old athlete — wearing his white taekwondo uniform and his medal -- looked on.

A string of speakers praised Nikpai’s abilities and presented him with prizes, including 20,000 dollars from a leading mobile phone company.

Khalili said the government would pay for all four Olympians to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, a journey that each Muslim is expected to undertake at least once in a lifetime.

Nikpai also received a 10,000-dollar cheque from the national Olympic Committee. President Hamid Karzai has already awarded him a house, and an Afghan trading firm based in Dubai has offered a car.

Several TV channels broadcast the event live from the stadium, which was used by the 1996-2001 Taliban regime for public executions, including stoning, for people deemed to have offended its conservative Islamic rules.

Taekwondo is the most practised combat sport in Afghanistan.

The country’s previous best Olympic finish was a fifth place in wrestling in 1964.—AFP