Afghan judoka Friba Rezayee is fighting for her dreams

Credit to Author: Lisa Evans| Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 16:55:25 +0000

Friba Rezayee was only 18 when she made history by becoming Afghanistan’s first female Olympian. This was at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, three years after the fall of the Taliban – a regime that had banned women from participating in sports. This was not only a special moment for Rezayee, but a momentous occasion for women across Afghanistan.

Born in Kabul, Rezayee was aware at a young age that females and males were treated differently. “Afghanistan is a very traditional Islamic country where boys are raised to be the breadwinner of the family and girls are raised to marry at a young age, become homemakers and have children,” she says.

One of seven children, Rezayee says she started her activism from age five. Even then, she believed that every human being had equal rights.

“At the celebration of Eid, it’s an Afghan tradition that parents buy new clothes for their children,” she says. “My mother made a joke saying she didn’t get any clothes for me, and my brother said ‘yeah, you didn’t get any clothes because you’re a girl.’ Although it was a joke, I took it very seriously. I didn’t understand why there was a difference between me and my brother.”

When the Taliban took power in 1994, Rezayee’s family fled to Pakistan. While there, she remembers being inspired watching American boxer Laila Ali’s match on TV. She was in awe of the strength and power of the female champion boxer. Rezayee’s family returned home when the US invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

“We believed there was going to be freedom and a normal life,” she says.

Rezayee went in search of a place where she could learn to box like Laila Ali. She didn’t find any boxing facilities, but at the age of 15, she discovered judo. “I wasn’t allowed to go, but I went there anyways. I showed up at every training. I was fearless,” she says.

Rezayee faced heavy criticism, even from members of her own family, for her interest in judo. But the support of Stig Traavik, a Norwegian Olympian and diplomat, made all the difference. Traavik was working as an adviser to the Afghan Government to lift sanctions to allow the country’s participation in the Olympic Games. Afghanistan had previously been banned from participation by the International Olympic Committee due to the Taliban’s atrocities. Traavik was also a champion for women’s participation in sports in Afghanistan and supported Rezayee’s participation in judo. “Because he supported the judo centre and he had respect from the community, my coaches and the male members of the judo team allowed me to train,” says Rezayee.

At the age of 18, Rezayee went to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

“Five athletes were selected – two girls and three boys. But because my competition was first, I became the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics,” she says.

Rezayee’s father purchased a satellite dish to watch her competition. “My mother was proud. My siblings were proud. A few of my cousinswere not proud,” she says. “I’m a Muslim Afghan woman and I competed without covering my head with a hijab.”

Rezayee shocked the country by cutting her hair short and dying it red. “The media went crazy in Afghanistan,” she laughs. Rezayee didn’t make it to the next round and called her father in tears. “I said, ‘I’m so sorry I let you down.’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry about going to the next round. You went to the Olympics as the first woman. That’s like taking the first step on the moon.’”

While many were inspired by her participation in the Olympic Games, others in the country were appalled. Rezayee and her family received threats from fundamentalists, and she went into hiding upon her return.

“I did my best to live in Afghanistan, but it was becoming very dangerous for me,” she says.

Rezayee landed in Vancouver as a refugee in 2011. “The reason I came to Canada was because I wanted to have freedom. Freedom to study whatever I wanted, freedom to advocate for other Afghan women, for gender equality. I wanted to live somewhere where human rights and women rights were respected,” she says.

Rezayee remembers those first days. “When I first came to Canada, I got a bicycle and went to Stanley Park and rode very fast and I said, ‘Who says heaven doesn’t exist?’ I just wanted to have my freedom and be able to breathe and live,” she says. “I’m very grateful to be in Canada. I don’t take any second of my life here for granted.”

Rezayee followed her dreams and studied political science at the University of British Columbia, the first woman in her family to have a university degree. Although she has retired from international competition, Rezayee is involved in the sports community, teaching judo to women and kids in Vancouver. She has recently completed a professional coaching training certificate in judo, becoming the first Afghan woman to have one.

In 2021, the year the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, Rezayee founded Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a non-profit organization that advocates for women’s rights and education in Afghanistan. The organization assists young Afghan women with international post-secondary applications and runs a project, Girls of Afghanistan Lead (GOAL), to provide opportunities for young Afghan women to gain confidence and empowerment through training in martial arts.

Recently, the team helped a young girl who was arrested for going to the gym in Afghanistan to get a scholarship in Ontario. “What I hope for Afghan women is to have freedom and be able to achieve whatever they want to achieve,” she says.

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