Fariba Hashimi wins silver at Asian Games after training disguised as a man

Fariba Hashimi won the silver medal in the women's road race at the Asian Games in Shinshiro, Japan, on September 23, 2026. She said she had been training in Afghanistan while disguising herself as a man to avoid recognition.

Hashimi described the conditions she faced in her home country and the precautions she took to train. "All the time when I was going to training," she said, "I was dressing as a guy." She added that she sometimes hid her face to avoid being recognised and said, "Because sometimes when they recognised me, they were trying to throw stones or hitting me," noting those risks in a place where women have few rights.

Hashimi completed the women's cycling road race in a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 5 seconds and took silver. The report said winning the medal was comparatively straightforward for her: "The easy part for Fariba Hashimi was winning a silver medal in the women's cycling road race at the Asian Games." The result was described as another step in a journey that began in 2021 when she left Afghanistan.

On leaving Afghanistan she tied that move directly to the Taliban's return to power in 2021. "In 2021, when the Taliban moved into my country, I escaped my country because I wanted to follow my dream," she said. She added a wider purpose to her move, saying, "I want to show the Afghan women in the world that.... we can have an opportunity."

Hashimi spoke about the emotional weight of the achievement and her long-term hopes for Afghan women. "I’m really, really happy and I’m full of emotion. I don’t know how I can explain it for you," she said. "I hope one day I come back in my country and ride the streets of Kabul — and riding with the women side by side to share the same passion," she explained, and she added, "And I hope in the future to change some things."

Hashimi spoke with the Associated Press in Shinshiro, Japan, on September 23, 2026. She concluded by addressing those she said had opposed women’s public presence: "I think we are really tired of the situation in our country, and I hope the Taliban is watching. I know how much one woman can be powerful and that's why the Taliban is scared of women."