Mehboba Ahdyar
Personal information | |
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Born | 1989 (age 35–36) Kabul, Afghanistan |
Sport | |
Country | ![]() |
Mehboba Ahdyar (born 1989 in
Her family live in a mud brick house in one of the poorest parts of Kabul.[3] She reportedly runs 1,500 metres in about 4:50.[3] Ahdyar had won competitions in Afghanistan, but the Olympics was going to be her first competition outside her home country. However, she did not compete[4] because before the Olympics, on June 4, 2008, Ahdyar disappeared from a training facility in Formia,[5] Italy, possibly to seek asylum. Her whereabouts were then unknown.[6] On July 10, 2008, it became known that she was on her way to Norway to seek asylum.[7]
The Afghan embassy in the United States reported that, as she trained for the Olympics, Ahdyar faced "daily taunts from her conservative neighbors, vicious rumors about her character, and even death threats from extremists."[8]
Ahdyar planned on wearing a hijab during the competition, "I will not take off my scarf in China when I race because it is symbol of Muslim women."[8]
See also
- Robina Muqimyar, the first woman to run for Afghanistan at the Olympics, in 2004
References
- ^ "Athletes > Mehboba Ahdyar > Bio". NBC. Archived from the original on 2014-01-05. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
- ^ "Afghan Woman's Olympic Dream". National Geographic. 2008-03-08. Archived from the original on March 20, 2008.
- ^ a b "Afghan Woman Runs Toward Olympics Despite Jeers, Potential Danger". Associated Press. March 16, 2008.
- ^ "Olympic Mystery: What Happened to Afghanistan's Mehboba Ahdyar?". About.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/wires/07/10/2090.ap.oly.missing.afghan.0609/.
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(help)[dead link ] - TIME. 2008-06-09. Archived from the originalon 2008-07-10.
- TimesOnline. July 10, 2008. Archived from the originalon October 12, 2008.
- ^ a b "Afghan Athletes Train for Beijing Olympic". Afghan embassy to the United States. April 29, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13.