She fled Afghanistan as a baby. Now she's headed to the Olympics. How she fought her way to to the top.
She fled Afghanistan as a baby. Now she’s headed to the Olympics. How she fought her way to to the top.to this year’s Paris Olympics has been more treacherous than most. Born in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in 1993, she was just six months old when her parents carried her across the mountainous border into Pakistan, fleeing the country’s raging civil war.
After attacks by mujahedeen rebels, my mom left Kabul with the four of us kids. My dad was trapped and hid at his office, but met up with us a day later. We travelled by car to the Pakistani border town of Torkham. From there, we walked through the mountains over two days and two nights. My eldest sister was 13 at that point, and my mom stayed awake all night to make sure no one assaulted us.My family is pretty educated—both of my parents were government workers—but we had little savings.
You returned to Afghanistan as a young adult to earn your undergraduate degree. There, many women aren’t allowed to leave the house without a male guardian. During your training, you regularly grappled with men. Competing could have cost you your life. Why did you stick with it?Trolls were making fake social media accounts, you were followed—many people would have thrown in the towel.People online knew the make and model of my car; they photoshopped pictures of me on vacation.
Your shoulder separated while you were grappling in Tokyo. How are you changing up your tactics this time around? You’re going to be fighting athletes whose home countries are relatively politically stable. They’ve never wanted for food, and some have had their training fully funded. They haven’t contended with the things you have. Do you ever think about that—how the past affects performance?
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