Afghanistan’s bodybuilding champion Ahmad Yasin Salik Qaderi arrived in Kabul early Wednesday from Mongolia after winning gold in the 90kg weight division category at the WBPF championships.

Officials from the Afghanistan Olympic Committee and residents of Kabul city gathered at Hamid Karzai International Airport to welcome Qaderi home.

“His doctors asked him to stop training but his love for his country couldn’t be stopped and he ignored his doctor’s advice. He went on to raise Afghanistan’s flag at the international competition and he won the gold medal,” Hamidullah Qaderi, brother of Qaderi said.

Bawar Hotak, the head of the Afghanistan Bodybuilding Federation said: “This is an unprecedented honor in the history of Afghanistan’s bodybuilding sector. This honor is not only for Afghanistan but it is also for the whole of Asia.”

“Today the world is surprised that in such as country that is still at war, one of its sons wins a gold medal at an international competition,” the head of National Olympic Committee Mohammad Zahir Aghbar said.  

Qaderi won gold at the 9th World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships (WBPF) in Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar on Sunday. He also won the "Mr Muscle" title.

Bodybuilders from 100 countries took part at this year’s Ulaanbaatar contest. 

This comes two months after Qaderi won gold in the Afghanistan’s championships to become Mr Afghanistan. 

Also in August he won gold in the 90kg weight category in the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in South Korea.