Pakistani athlete Nargis Hamidullah from Quetta won the bronze medal in the karate competition at the Asian Games 2018 and is now training for the 13th South Asian Games after losing the chance to participate in the Olympics 2020 qualifiers because she didn’t have enough money.
If Hamidullah had managed to qualify for the Olympics, it would have been historical in more ways than one. The Tokyo Summer Olympics were featuring karate in the programme for the first time.
“I won’t end this journey here, I have won a bronze medal in the past and now I want to change its colour. I want to win a gold medal for my country,” said Hamidullah on SAMAA TV’s programme Naya Din on Wednesday.
However, she is still waiting for government camps to be set up in the country for the South Asian Games in order to qualify for it.
She added that she is training for her next matches. “My training is my passion and everyone dreams to continue their passion,” said Hamidullah.
In 2018, Hamidullah became the country’s first female karate athlete to win a medal at the Asiad. The 19-year-old has been the national karate champion for the past six years.
In 2017, she won gold, silver and bronze medals at the South Asian Karate Championships in Sri Lanka