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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Two Afghan Women Will Compete in Olympics |
| 2004-05-19 |
| ... But sprinter Robina Muqimyar will make history in Athens this summer when she and a judo player become the first two Afghan women to compete in an Olympic Games. ... The Afghan Olympic Committee expects to send about 14 athletes to the Athens games, including Muqimyar and Friba Razayee, a judo competitor who qualified as a "wild card" competitor, a concession extended to athletes from poor nations who would not otherwise qualify. .... Anxious not to draw fire from conservatives, Muqimyar runs with a headscarf knotted under her chin and says she will wear long pants -- not the shorts commonly worn by sprinters -- at the Greece games. .... Muqimyar trains at the stadium two or three times a week with a male sprinter, Massoud Azizi, and works out on other days at the compound of the international peacekeeping force. Azizi recently spent six months training in Iran, but Muqimyar’s family would not permit her to go overseas for that long a period. .... With a personal best of 15.6 seconds for the 100-meter sprint -- five seconds over the women’s world record -- Muqimyar has no illusions about returning from Greece with a medal. But she hopes her appearance will encourage Afghan women to be bold. ... "It’s difficult for a woman to go off and do this. But we have to be brave, we have to stand up for our rights," said Mahbuba, Muqimyar’s mother, who watched her daughter train from the stands, her blue burka pushed back over her shoulders. Muqimyar said that working with men and her few trips abroad have changed her mentality. She has both male and female trainers and said Azizi has become "like a brother." She wants to drive her own car -- a rarity for women in Afghanistan -- and choose her own husband. She dismissed those who disapprove of women’s participation in sports as "the same people who ruined the country," referring to the Taliban. "They want to hold women back and stop them from doing things. I don’t accept that," she said. "We will send a strong message to the world that I represent all Afghan girls." |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |