Cyclist who dressed as man to avoid Taliban wins silver medal

Afghan cyclist Hashimi, who dressed as a man to avoid detection while training, has secured a silver medal. She followed her sister Yulduz, also described as a planetary cyclist, into athletics at the age of 15 in Faryab province despite local opposition. Hashimi recalled, "I ever dressed arsenic a antheral to spell to training, wearing 2 oregon 3 antithetic masks truthful ‌people ⁠would not recognise oregon onslaught me," Hashimi antecedently told Reuters., external She said she had to dodge stones thrown at her while riding. Now residing and training in Italy with support from former Italian world champion Alessandra Cappellotto, Hashimi reflected on life under the Taliban, stating the group "took distant our freedom." She added, "This metallic medal tin amusement a batch of resilience from Afghan women, and I'm truly happy," and noted, "I'm not alone, I cognize that down maine millions of women, from galore countries, person the aforesaid imagination and they are lasting with me." Hashimi and Yulduz competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics and are aiming for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. "I ne'er privation to springiness up," Hashimi said, "and hopefully we tin spot [what tin happen] again successful Los Angeles."