Bahraini sprinter Rakia Al Gassra’s sporting attire when she ran the women’s 100m yesterday was anything but aerodynamic.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old athlete, clad in a traditional Muslim hijab, which protects a female’s modesty, came fifth in a time of 11.49 seconds ahead of runners from Zimbabwe, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Kuwait.
Fatun Abukar Omar from Somalia was the slowest of all in the heats at 14.29 seconds, which was her personal best. Something like that can only happen at the Olympics.
“Far more athletes from the Arab world should compete at the Olympics,” Al Gassra said after her debut.
Even though she was not the fastest in Athens, the petite track and field athlete can outrun many men in her homeland. Asked whether that was true, she whispered “Yes” and smiled.
But she would never remove her hijab, which reveals only her face. “That is the principle of Islam, an old tradition. I cannot run without the hijab,” said the athlete who only began participating in school sports as a 17-year-old.
According to Bahraini sports officials, talks with sports manufacturer Nike are under way, to perhaps rig her out in more comfortable attire, which will be by no means suggestive or figure hugging.
Alaa Jassim, from war-ravaged Iraq, was overwhelmed by her performance and clocked a personal best of 12.70 seconds even though she finished last in her heat.
She said: “This is a great honor for me to be here in the Olympics. I feel I am here representing all the Iraqi people, not just the women. I’ve had a lot of support from my family and many others to do this.”
“I started training for these Olympics in March, but because of the situation there, I couldn’t train as well as I wanted to. If it was possible, I would have trained five to six times a week. But because of the bombs and explosions, I often could not.”
Even though Jassim did not win, she said: “In the actual race, I was only thinking of getting past that finish line. It was my personal best time, so I am very happy now.”
Robina Muqimyar is the first female Afghan athlete to compete at the Olympics — and wears long pants. The 17-year-old sprinter ran her heat in 14.14 seconds. But her time was secondary.
Her participation is a sign of further normalization in the country which she fled. She lived in the Palestinian territories for years afterward.
Afghanistan’s Olympic ambassador Fahim Yusufzai taught her not be afraid if she failed to live up to expectations. She said Muqimyar had asked her, “What if I lose?”, and she replied: “It doesn’t matter. Simply being at the Olympics is the important thing.”
