With the difficult situation that happens in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime took control of the country again after two decades, women have lost practically all their rights, since Sharia law or Islamic law will once again be the one that governs that country. , forcing them to wear the burqa, and forbidding them various things, such as laughing out loud, going out without a male companion, attending university, or practicing sports; They may not even get on a bike or motorcycle.
Due to the exclusion of women in sports and the situation in the Asian country, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday excluded Afghanistan from participating in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, a situation that had not happened since Sydney 2000, when the IOC likewise, it excluded the Afghan delegation for trampling on the rights of women.
Lina Azimi, First Representative of Afghanistan
During these 20 years where the Taliban regime did not control the country, some women fulfilled their dream of being athletes and even attending the Olympic Games, that is why we will make a count of these women who represented Afghanistan.
Lina Azimi was the first woman to represent the Afghan nation competing in Paris at the 2003 World Athletics Championships. With a time of 18.37 seconds, she completed the 100-meter test finishing in last place.
However, Azimi was surprising in that competition, wearing long pants and mentioned in interviews that she could only train once a week, adding that her preparation was only 3 months.
First Afghan Women Olympians
For Athens 2004, Afghanistan brought two women as part of its representative, being Robina Muqimyar (athletics) and Friba Razayee (judo).
Muqimyar participated in the 100 meter dash, where she beat the record for her countrywoman that she had set the previous year, setting a time of 14.06 seconds.
On the other hand, Razayee participated in middleweight judo (70 kg), debuting against the Spanish Cecilia Blanco, with whom she lost in the first round. In that same summer, but in the Paralympics, Mareena Karim was the first woman to represent Afghanistan in the 100-meter sprint at just 14 years old.
Cyclist Ali Zada, fight for his dreams
Let’s move on to a more recent situation, with cyclist Ali Zada, who toured Fuji International Speedway in Tokyo 2020 as part of the Olympic refugee team. It was a great struggle that Zada had to go through to fulfill her dream, escaping from her country with her family to Iran, attending university and becoming a sports teacher, even traveling the Afghan roads where stones and fruits were thrown at her and even running over her. , because it is frowned upon to see a woman on a bike in those lands, adding to the fact that she did so with the proper equipment and not with a burqa.
For the year 2016, she also began to fulfill another of her dreams, to create an Afghan women’s cycling team, of which her sister Zahra is a part, which she called “Les Petites Reines de Kaboul”, with Ali being awarded a scholarship by the IOC as refugee athletes in France.
Khalida Popal, from encouraging to ask to hide
Now let’s talk about Khalida Popal, a member of the Afghan women’s soccer team who took refuge in Denmark, who encouraged her compatriots to play sports; However, with the victory of the Taliban, he asked women to remove all traces of their social networks, to hide and disappear because their lives were in danger.
“I was one of the people who founded the team with the goal of staying together as women of Afghanistan.”, remember.
“We wanted to send a message to the world and to the Taliban: we (women) are not weak, you can kill our sisters, but we will show you that we are by their side.”
“My players are girls who have claimed on social media that the Taliban are the enemy. Now they see this armed enemy in front of their doors and windows and they are afraid of what will happen to them ”.
Frustrado el sueño de Zakia Khodadadi
Finally, with the exclusion of Afghanistan for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Zakia Khodadadi who would participate in taekuondo saw his dream frustrated, being afraid of what could happen for the Taliban regime, asking for help on social networks.
“My intention is to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, please take my hand and help me. Don’t let the rights of an Afghan citizen in the Paralympic movement be taken away so easily ”, commented on a video.
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