President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday met with Afghan athletes who brought home medals from the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. 

Afghanistan received 12 medals in total including one gold medal, one silver and 10 bronze medals at the international event.

The athletes also received cash prizes from Ghani at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace.

“Our athletes succeeded to bring back 12 medals from the Asian games and it is a great example and other sectors should also work hard to bring more honor to the country,” Ghani said. 

“This is the first time in 80 years of Afghanistan’s history where a president honors athletes and this can have a positive impact on sports in the country,”said Mirwais Bahawi, deputy head of General Directorate of Sport and Physical Training.

At least 215 athletes represented Afghanistan at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat in 16 sports where they got overall 26th place out of 64 countries.