The Afghan women defying tradition on a bicycle
Rights — di Tommaso Perrone
A group of 40 Afghan women who love cycling are defying their country's traditions with a very specific goal in mind: the 2020 Olympics and the Tour de France.
The Afghan women defying tradition on a bicycle
A group of 40 Afghan women who love cycling are defying their country's traditions with a very specific goal in mind: the 2020 Olympics and the Tour de France.
A group of 40 Afghan women who are passionate about cycling and form part of Afghanistan's women's national cycling team is trying to break down the barriers imposed on them by their country's traditions. Their goal is to get the message across that women, too, can practise sport freely — an activity considered unsuitable for a conservative society like Afghanistan's.
Masooma Alizada, Malika Yousufi and their teammates train regularly away from the streets of the capital Kabul, on deserted and often dusty roads, shielded from the threatening eyes of men. The bicycles are loaded onto vans made available by the Afghan Cycling Federation and taken to the outskirts of the city, ready to be ridden by women wearing black uniforms that cover their arms and legs, so they can go unnoticed.
The national team has already competed in several international events and is pressing ahead towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite none of the athletes having received a single penny for months — a problem shared by many Afghan sportspeople. In the 1990s, women were completely excluded from public life and were not allowed to go to school or walk in the street unless accompanied by a male family member. Since the fall of the regime in 2001, things have been gradually improving, but incidents of violence risk threatening the progress towards greater rights.
It is not uncommon for some motorists to stop and hurl insults at the cyclists, and their coach — who is also president of the Federation — Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi, is recovering from an injury, or rather an accident, caused by a motorcyclist who knocked him off while he was "escorting" the athletes. But Abdul remains unfazed: "These are people who won't let their own children go to school."
The cyclists' admiration for their coach is immense, and their words make it plain: "He is a shield for us. Without him we wouldn't be able to race." Malika's goal is clear: she wants to become the first Afghan cyclist to take part in the Tour de France. "Nothing will stop us."