One ran in shorts and a singlet. Others chose long tights and T-shirts. Three were bareheaded. One had a stylish kerchief over her head. Another competed in full Islamic hejab, covered from head to toe.
Their mere presence in the Olympics was significant. Their variety of dress underscored the statement these women from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Somalia were making as they ran in the first round of the 100 meters Friday at the Olympic Stadium.
“It is a matter of choice,” said Alaa Jassim of Iraq, who accented a sleeveless black singlet and shorts, both form-fitting, with gold hoop earrings and iridescent blue track spikes.
In singular ways, each Muslim woman was saying they all should have more options in their lives.
It was a message Kim Gevaert of Belgium clearly understood.
“I think it is very important for them to be here,” she said. “All the women here feel connected to the Muslim women. It is difficult for us to imagine how they have to live in their own countries.”
A first-round heat ordinarily would have been merely another 11 seconds of running for an athlete like Gevaert, runner-up in the 100 at the last European championships. Yet she realized there was something extraordinary about this race because the athlete four lanes away was Jassim.
“Everyone here feels for what has happened to the Iraqi people,” Gevaert said.
Jassim’s attire was similar to that of other elite women sprinters. She was far from their level on the track, running more than a second slower than the final qualifier for the second round.
Fartun Omar Abukar of Somalia, who wore black tights with a blue kerchief over the top of her head, also failed to advance. So did Robina Muqimyar of Afghanistan, in loose-fitting green tights and a T-shirt; Danah Al Nasrallah of Kuwait, in a T-shirt and tight shorts; and Rakia Al Gassra of Bahrain, who covered everything but her face.
More Top Picks Beverage Fridges
Al Gassra, 17, was the first Arab woman to meet the Olympic qualifying standard of 11.40 seconds in the 100, her Olympic committee said. She ran 11.49 Friday, missing the second round by only 6/100ths of a second even though she wore more clothing than anyone: white head scarf adorned with Bahrain’s flag, long-sleeved shirt under a singlet, and black tights.
The International Olympic Committee allows some athletes without qualifying times to compete as a way to encourage sports in their countries.
“There must be more women from Arab countries,” Al Gassra said through a translator. “It is not enough. There must be many more.”
In many Muslim societies, women are allowed to play sports as long as they adhere to their religion’s insistence on modesty when they are competing where men can see them.
Two Arab Muslim women, Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco (400 hurdles) in 1984 and Hassiba Boulmerka of Algeria (1,500 meters) in 1992, have won Olympic gold medals in track and field while running in typically Western running clothes.
El Moutawakel, who went to Iowa State University, faced virtually no criticism from her secular nation. Boulmerka felt compelled to train in Italy after being chastised in Algeria for running with bare legs.
“To see two girls coming from the [Persian] Gulf states (Bahrain and Kuwait) makes me very happy,” El Moutawakel, an International Olympic Committee member, said Friday. “I had to come out and shake their hands because it was pride for us. It means courage and determination to come to the Games.”
Iraqi women share the same problems as all Iraqi athletes. Training is close to impossible in the perilous environment that has existed in Iraq since the U.S.’ overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It takes extra doses of courage and determination to be an athlete there.
Jassim, 18, who lives in Baghdad, learned last October she would compete in the Olympics but said her only real training came during two weeks in Jordan in July. She finished last in her heat with a time of 12.70. The winner clocked 11.14.
“Baghdad is a very difficult city,” Jassim said through a translator. “When you have problems in the street, you cannot go for training.
“Removing Saddam was a nice idea, but the war was a very bad idea. “The price the Iraqi people are paying is very painful.”
No matter how fast she ran, Jassim said, it was important for her to be in Athens, not only for Iraqi women but all of her compatriots. Another Iraqi woman, Maysa Matrood, had competed in track at the 2000 Olympics.
“It is a high honor,” Jassim said. “I have proved that Iraqi people can do everything, not only in sports competition but other areas. I did this for the Iraqi people.”
Al Nasrallah, 16, is the first Kuwaiti woman to compete at the Olympics. She was last in her heat with a national record of 13.92 seconds–not bad for her first 100-meter race ever.
“It will open doors for women in my country,” she said in English perfected during six months at Southridge High School in Beaverton, Ore.
Al Nasrallah joined a Kuwait City training group that had 10 women. Soon she was the only one.
“All of a sudden they were gone,” she said. “They just stopped coming. I don’t know why.”
Al Nasrallah was third slowest of the 63 entrants in the first round. Muqimyar of Afghanistan was second slowest in 14.14. Abukar Omar of Somalia was last in 14.29. Jassim’s time ranked 52nd.
Some believe athletes of that level don’t belong at the Games.
“The Olympics is more than just a sports event,” Gevaert said. “It is a party of countries.”
U.S. sprinter Lauryn Williams, who won both her heats Friday to advance to Saturday’s semifinals, found that out one day in the Olympic Village. Williams felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to see Jassim.
Williams thought Jassim might be hostile because of the U.S.’ invasion of Iraq.
“I expected her to be mean with not such nice feelings,” Williams said. “We said good luck to each other and exchanged pins.”
———-
SPECIAL SECTION
More Top Picks Best Drift Trikes For Adults
Get updates through the day at CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM