Fariba Hashimi, who used to disguise herself as a person to coach in Afghanistan, finishes second in ladies’s street race.
Printed On 22 Sep 2026
An Afghan bike owner who disguised herself as a person to pursue her sporting desires has received an Asian Video games silver medal, hoping it conjures up different ladies in a rustic the place Taliban authorities have sharply curtailed their freedoms.
Italy-based Fariba Hashimi powered dwelling second within the ladies’s street race close to Nagoya in Japan on Tuesday, calling the triumph “one thing particular”.
“I can’t clarify my emotions now,” mentioned the 23-year-old, earlier than reflecting on how she was attacked with stones and educated disguised as a person when she began out within the sport as an adolescent, together with her sister Yulduz, who can be now a professional bike owner.
“I used to be born inside a rustic the place the ladies who dream are getting attacked, and I’m actually glad that I’ve fought in opposition to that,” she mentioned.
“I hope that the subsequent era will come right here and symbolize their nation with none worry.”
The Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021 and have since imposed a sequence of guidelines limiting ladies’s entry to training and public life, together with sport.
“They took away our freedom, they took away the whole lot from us,” mentioned Hashimi, who hails from Faryab province in northern Afghanistan and left the nation after the Taliban authorities took over.
“This silver medal can present quite a lot of resilience from Afghan ladies, and I’m actually glad.
“I’m not alone; I do know that behind me hundreds of thousands of ladies, from many nations, have the identical dream and they’re standing with me.”
After fleeing Afghanistan with the assistance of Italian former world champion Alessandra Cappellotto, Hashimi relocated to Italy, the place she now lives and trains.
She and her sister competed on the Paris Olympics two years in the past, and the 2028 Los Angeles Video games are actually looming into view.
“I by no means need to hand over, and hopefully we are able to see [what can happen] once more in Los Angeles,” she mentioned.
Hashimi reserved a particular thanks for the Japanese workforce for taking part in a component in her silver medal.
“I’m right here with no mechanic, with none preparation. We introduced one man with us from the nationwide federation, and he simply drove the automotive,” she mentioned.
“We had been fixing the bike ourselves. I used to be the mechanic for myself. I used to be washing the bike myself.
“Thanks to the Japanese workforce. They had been actually, very nice to me [and] fastened my bike.”
