Friba Rezayee fights for her dreams as a judoka in Afghanistan

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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. Rezayee was not the only one to be touched by this moment, but women from all over Afghanistan.

Rezayee grew up in Kabul and was aware of the differences between males, women, and children. “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

Rezayee, one of seven children, says that she began her activism at age five. Even then she believed that everyone has 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 inspired by the strength of the female boxing champion. 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 searched for a place to learn boxing like Laila. 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 was criticized by her family members for her interest in Judo. Stig Traavik’s support, a Norwegian Olympian, diplomat and former diplomat, was crucial. 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.

Rezayee, who was 18 years old at the time, attended the 2004 Olympic Games held 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 a nation by cutting her short hair and dying them 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.’”

Some people were inspired by her Olympic participation, but others were appalled. Rezayee’s family received threats and she fled into hiding after her return.

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

Rezayee arrived in Vancouver in 2011 as a refugee. “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 recollects those early 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 pursued her dreams, studying political science at the University of British Columbia. She was the first woman from her family to earn a degree. Rezayee has retired from competitions at the international level, but she is still involved in sports, teaching judo in Vancouver to women and children. Rezayee is the first Afghan to hold a professional coaching certificate in judo.

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 Afghan women with international applications for post-secondary schools and runs a project called Girls of Afghanistan Lead (GOAL) to empower young Afghan girls through martial arts training.

The team recently helped a girl who was arrested in Afghanistan for going to the gymnasium to get a scholarship to 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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