Afghan woman sprinter sends message of defiance at Asian Games

Sprinter Kimia Yousofi said she was "here to represent Afghan girls" as she competed at the Asian Games on Friday in defiance of the Taliban.

Yousofi, who resettled in Australia last year after fleeing persecution in her homeland, is one of 14 women athletes listed in Afghanistan's team in Hangzhou.

"The most important thing for me is to represent our girls in Afghanistan," she said.

The other Afghan women are competing in volleyball and cycling, and like Yousofi, have built new lives for themselves around the world.

Women's sport in Afghanistan was effectively banned by the Taliban when they returned to power in 2021.

That meant no women travelling from Afghanistan in the delegation of more than 120 competitors, coaches and supervisors.

But with the help of overseas sports bodies, foreign-based Afghan women are taking part.

The 27-year-old Yousofi, who carried Afghanistan's flag at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, competed in the first round of the women's 100m in Hangzhou.

And although she finished last in her heat, she said there was a bigger meaning at play — "here to represent Afghan girls who don't have permission for education and sports".

When asked to send them a message, she replied: "Work on themselves.

"That means read books, everything they need for themselves personally."

Wearing a black headscarf and pink running shirt, Yousofi ran a time of 13.32sec.

Olympic officials said they would have faced significant risks had they remained in Afghanistan.