A cycling team from Herat has completed a 1,500-kilometre journey to Kabul after spending 16 days travelling through several provinces of Afghanistan.
The four-member group consisted of three cyclists and one accompanying delegation member. Starting in Herat, the team travelled through Ghor, Bamyan, Panjshir and Parwan before reaching Kabul.
The journey is notable for both its distance and route, taking the cyclists across different terrain in central and northern Afghanistan before their arrival in the capital.
Officials from Afghanistan’s sports administration and the national cycling federation received the team in Kabul on Saturday.
National Olympic Committee President Bawar Khan Hotak described the long-distance ride as a way of promoting participation in sport among the public.
Dad Mohammad Payenda Akhtari, the sports administration’s head of Olympic affairs, also acknowledged the cyclists’ effort while noting limitations in available sporting resources.
The riders received certificates and gifts at the conclusion of the ceremony.
The 1,500-kilometre journey adds a long-distance endurance element to domestic cycling activity in Afghanistan, with the riders completing the route across five provinces over little more than two weeks.
