09/23/26 10:45:00
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09/23 06:33 CDT Afghan female cyclist wins silver at Asian Games after
disguising herself as a man to train
Afghan female cyclist wins silver at Asian Games after disguising herself as a
man to train
By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer
NAGOYA, Japan (AP) --- The easy part for Fariba Hashimi was winning a silver
medal in the women's cycling road race at the Asian Games.
The nearly impossible part for the female cyclist from Afghanistan was trying
to train in her country. To do that, she dressed as a man in a place where
women have few rights.
"All the time when I was going to training," she said, "I was dressing as a
guy."
She said she also hid her face when she could in order to not be recognized.
"Because sometimes when they recognized me, they were trying to throw ...
stone(s) or hitting me," she said.
Hashimi won silver Tuesday in a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 5 seconds, which
marked another leg in a journey that began in 2021 when she left Afghanistan.
"In 2021, when the Taliban moved into my country, I escaped my country because
I wanted to follow my dream," she said. "I want to show the Afghanistan women
in the world that ... we can have an opportunity."
Hashimi talked about having many dreams for women in Afghanistan, dreams for
herself and dreams that may take time to be realized.
"I'm really, really happy and I'm full of emotion. I don't know how I can
explain it for you," she said.
"I hope one day I come back in my country and ride the streets of Kabul --- and
riding with the women side by side to share the same passion," she explained.
"And I hope in the future changing some things," she added. "I think we are
really tired of the situation of our country and I hope the Taliban is
watching. I know how much one woman can be powerful and that's why Taliban is
scared (of) women."
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SNTV video journalist Raj Mohan contributed to this report.
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See full AP coverage of Asian sports here
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