Fariba Hashimi’s journey to the 2026 Asian Games in Japan is about far more than cycling. The 23-year-old Afghan rider once had to disguise herself as a boy just to train, faced stones and bottles from people who wanted her to stop, and eventually fled Afghanistan to continue pursuing the sport.
Now based in Italy, Hashimi has reached one of the biggest stages in Asian sport. She finished seventh in the women’s individual time trial at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, turning a difficult personal journey into another milestone in her international career.
Hashimi began cycling at 15 after following her older sister, Yulduz Hashimi, into the sport. Growing up in Faryab province, however, she said cycling was not widely accepted for women.
To avoid being recognised while travelling to training, Hashimi said she dressed as a man and sometimes wore two or three masks. Even then, she recalled people throwing stones and bottles at her and her sister in an effort to force them to stop cycling.
The sisters initially kept their participation in a local cycling race secret because they feared how others would react. They eventually finished first and second, according to an earlier account of their journey, and continued developing as competitive cyclists.
Their situation became even more difficult after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Hashimi eventually left the country and settled in Italy, where she continued her career with support from former world road cycling champion Alessandra Cappellotto.
Hashimi and Yulduz went on to represent Afghanistan at the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming part of the country’s historic presence in Olympic cycling.
At the Asian Games in Nagoya, Hashimi’s seventh-place finish was significant to her beyond the result itself. She said she wanted her participation to demonstrate that Afghan women could continue competing and pursuing their ambitions despite the circumstances they face.
UNESCO estimates that about 2.4 million Afghan girls have been excluded from secondary education since the Taliban returned to power. Afghanistan is currently the only country where girls and women are barred from formal education beyond the primary level.
Hashimi also spoke about the personal cost of leaving home. She said she has not seen her family for a long time and hopes that one day she can return to Afghanistan and inspire the next generation.
Her Asian Games result therefore carries a meaning that extends beyond the cycling course. From hiding her identity on roads in Faryab to competing against Asia’s leading cyclists in Japan, Hashimi is using her international career to keep attention on the dreams she believes Afghan girls should still be able to pursue.
