Rubina Muqimyar, born July 3, 1986, was the only female athlete on the Afghanistan Team participating in the Beijing Olympics. She is a second-time Olympian, her first time being Athens in 2004, where she got the 17th position in women’s 100m Sprint. She was the first woman in the history of Afghanistan to participate in an Olympic event.

 

 

Fariba Rezayee, born September 3, 1985, was another female star who participated in the Judo event in Athens Olympics of 2004. Her family had left Afghanistan as refugees to Pakistan because of the subjugation of the Taliban era. She first started training as a boxer, but then focused on Judo. Fariba represented Afghanistan in Judo in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Together, Rubina Muqimyar and Fariba Rezayee are two history-making girls who have not only defied the odds of a repressive society, but also broken the centuries-old chains of ethnic persecution and deprivation. Our special tributes go to them.