Competing at his first Olympic Games at the age of 18, Masoud Azizi was the only male athlete to compete for Afghanistan in athletics competition. He qualified for the Athens Games after being granted a wild card place because his best time of 11.16 seconds set during practice in the men's 100 metres was 0.88 seconds slower than the event's "B" Olympic qualifying standard. In an interview before the Games, Azizi said, "I am very proud to be with the other world champions. I will introduce myself to them.”, and, "I try my best to give something back home. Everybody wants to get a medal, but even if they don't get it, it's not a matter of win or lose. The main thing is to participate." He was drawn to compete in heat four alongside eight other sprinters on 21 August. Azizi finished eighth and last of all the finishing runners with a time of 11.66 seconds; only the top three from each heat and the next ten fastest overall among all ten heats were able to advance, and he was eliminated from the competition. Azizi would go on to represent Afghanistan twice more at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.