Fariba Hashimi: From escaping the Taliban to winning a silver medal at the Asian Games

Fariba Hashimi’s journey to the Asian Games podium began with a bike she could barely ride and the need to hide who she was. On Tuesday, the 23-year-old won silver in the individual road race in Aichi-Nagoya, becoming Afghanistan’s first Asian Games medalist since 2002.

Hashimi finished seventh in the women’s time trial on Sunday, but the road race yielded the result she was looking to reach the Games. After the race, the Paris 2024 Olympian reflected on finally standing on the podium representing the country she had to leave five years ago.

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“I came to the Asian Games expecting to stand on the podium and represent my country. I can’t describe my feelings now.”

The meaning of the medal goes back to Hashimi’s adolescence in Faryab, a remote province in northern Afghanistan. She and her sister Yulduz started cycling in 2017, but had to hide their identities during training and races because women cycling were not accepted in their community.

“This silver medal can show the great resilience of Afghan women,” Hashimi said.

“I am not alone. I know that behind me are millions of women from many countries who have the same dream. They stand with me.”

The sisters’ secret races eventually drew attention and hostilities escalated. They faced stones, bottles and abuse while driving, and Yulduz once suffered a broken wrist after being hit by a rickshaw driver. After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the sisters left Afghanistan and eventually settled in Italy, where they continued their cycling careers.

FROM DRESSING UP TO THE WORLD STAGE

Hashimi was 15 when she and Yulduz first saw an ad for a local cycling race. Neither had ever ridden a bike, so they borrowed one from a neighbor and learned for several hours before entering.

Fariba won the first race and Yulduz finished second. “I felt like a bird that could fly. It was amazing,” Fariba later told the BBC.

The sisters continued to drive in secret, using scarves, masks and sunglasses to hide themselves and sometimes false identities. Hashimi later told Reuters she would dress as a man for training.

Their talents eventually took them beyond the boundaries of these hidden races. The sisters were invited to the Afghan national women’s cycling team in 2020, but the Taliban’s return to power a year later changed their circumstances. They were among the Afghan cyclists who, with the help of former world champion Alessandra Cappellotto, left the country to rebuild their careers in Italy.

Fariba won the 2022 Afghan national championship and later became the first Afghan woman to win a UCI event. She and Yulduz went on to represent Afghanistan at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

PODIUM FOR AFGHAN WOMEN

Hashimi’s journey also meant living away from his family. She spoke about the difficulty of being separated from her mother and siblings, but continued to compete internationally, using her platform to speak about the rights and aspirations of Afghan women.

“To follow my dream, I ran away from the stones of people. I never thought I would be a refugee.”

“All the stones they threw at me gave me the strength to fight for my freedom.”

The Asian Games silver now marks another major milestone for Hashimi after the Olympics, national title and UCI victory. It also comes at a time when opportunities for Afghan women in sport remain severely limited, making her presence on the international stage particularly significant for a country whose female athletes have increasingly had to build their careers abroad.

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Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

23 Sep 2026 14:53 IST