Afghanistan’s Kimia Yousofi, competing in her third Olympics, holds up an indication after competing within the girls’s 100m competitors on the Paris Olympics.
| Picture Credit score: Reuters
The file books will present that Afghanistan’s Kimia Yousofi ran the slowest time in her preliminary spherical of the ladies’s 100m competitors on the Paris 2024 Olympics. Competing in her third Olympics — Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo — Yousofi completed with a time of 13.42 seconds, slower than the 13.29 three years in the past. Most athletes could be upset at this level, with years of wrestle and onerous work culminating in a less-than-impressive end.
However for Yousofi, this race is just the start. Because the competitors concludes, she removes the bib pinned to the again of her jersey, turns it round, keen to indicate the digicam what’s written on the opposite aspect. It’s essential that folks see it.
“Training, Sport, our proper,” it reads.
Every of the runners within the preliminary rounds has their very own story. Faiqa Riaz, from Pakistan, is collaborating in her first worldwide competitors. She’s by no means run in a stadium as massive and full of as many individuals because the Stade de France.
Iakopo Filomenaleonisa of Samoa, a former bodybuilder, has made a multi-day journey to Paris and set a nationwide file (12.78). Regine Tugade-Watson of Guam is a former USA Naval Academy member. Every athlete is pursuing private but vital objectives.
Yousofi has her personal story, too. However she’s not working only for that. “After all, the Olympic Video games is a giant dream for each athlete. I’ve run on the Tokyo Olympics and the Rio Olympics. However in them, I used to be working only for myself. However now I’m right here for Afghanistan’s ladies,” she says.
“I used to be in Kabul when the Taliban got here. I wished to remain as a result of I felt I used to be from this nation. My folks wanted me. However lots of people informed me they couldn’t assure my security. I used to be a lady with a public face as a result of I’d carried the flag of Afghanistan only a few days earlier than. I needed to flee,” Yousofi provides.
Yousofi is set to struggle for all Afghan girls. “I had to decide on between competing as a refugee or an Afghan. I used to be born not in Afghanistan however in Iran (her dad and mom had fled to that nation again in 1996 when she was born). So, once I opened my eyes for the primary time, it was as a refugee. However I’m an Afghan. I’ll all the time signify my girls and folks.
“I’ve a message for Afghan ladies. Search for alternatives, after which use them. Don’t surrender. Don’t let others make your choices for you,” she says.