Tehran, Iran – It is 2021, in Konya, Turkey, during the fifth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games.
Farzaneh Fasihi’s heart races as she leans into position at the starting line, the lingering effects of a COVID-19 infection still wearing her down.
Her chest is tight, but she is determined to compete.
The starter gun goes off and she lunges forward as fast as she can, her legs spinning faster than ever.
As she crossed the finish line, she collapsed; not from exhaustion, but from the overwhelming emotion of breaking her own 100-meter sprint record, clocking a lightning-fast 11.12 seconds to win the silver medal.
“The day before a race, memories of my life come to mind. All the hardships I have endured and all my successes flash before my eyes like a film reel,” Fasihi told Al Jazeera, speaking in a Zoom interview from Belgrade, Serbia. She is attending a training camp ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin July 26, where Iran’s fastest ever runner will compete in her favorite event, the 100-meter sprint.
Fasihi is no stranger to challenges, but a strong support system in her personal life has helped her overcome it all.
“I didn’t want to do it.”
Born in 1993 in Isfahan, Iran, Fasihi, 31, comes from a family of athletes. His father was a volleyball player and his brother a swimming and diving champion.
“Before I got married, my father attended all my training sessions,” she recalls. “My mother also attended all my competitions. Without their support, I could not have succeeded.
From the ages of 5 to 12, Fasihi did gymnastics. She recalls that her first foray into competitive sprinting was more by chance than deliberate will.
“In middle school, my sports teacher forced me to participate in a running competition. I didn’t want to do it,” Fasihi recalls. That day, she broke the provincial record in Isfahan, which sparked a passion for athletics in her.
In 2016, she made her international debut.
Fasihi’s team performed well above expectations, winning the silver medal in the 4×400 meter relay at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar.
But her exceptional performances did not propel her sprinting career to new heights. With little support from the Iranian athletics federation, she left everything behind and became a personal trainer.
Everything changed at the end of 2018, when she decided to give competitive sprinting a second chance.
A year later, this decision led to an unexpected result: she married one of her coaches, Amir Hosseini, who was her most loyal support.
In 2020, with a support structure now firmly established with Hosseini, Fasihi’s career literally took off.
She competed at the World Indoor Championships in Athletics, where the relatively unknown runner scorched the track with a sensational record entry time of 7.29 seconds in the 60-meter sprint held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Not only had Fasihi come out of nowhere to set a fast time, she had also created history by becoming the first Iranian woman to compete in the championship. Her shock performance in Belgrade earned her the nickname ‘Jaguar’ for the first time, a testament to her ferocious speed from the outset.
A year later, in 2021, she signed with Serbian athletics club BAK, becoming the first female legionnaire – which basically means a club signs and sponsors a foreign athlete to move and compete for him – in the history of Iranian athletics.
“Becoming a legionnaire was a new path. It was a big risk, but I felt deep inside that I had to do it,” she said, hoping it would inspire other Iranian athletes.
Setting the record straight: This one is “for the people”
In 2023, Fasihi would go on to win gold in the 60 metres race at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, with a scintillating time of 7.28 seconds.
As exceptional and festive as this personal achievement was – setting a new Asian 60m sprint record would normally be cause for wild celebration – the day will be remembered for something much deeper.
As Fasihi walked to the podium, she turned directly to the camera and shouted, “For the people of Iran. For the happiness of the Iranian people! »
His moment of protest has passed viral on social media, Fasihi refusing to carry the Iranian flag and lowering his head while shedding silent tears, refusing to sing the national anthem on Victory Day.
It was her statement, or her way of expressing the tragedy of the young Iranian woman. Mahsa Aminiwho collapsed and died in 2022, reportedly after being arrested by Iranian morality police for wearing an inappropriate “hijab” (headscarf).
Amini’s death made international headlines and galvanized women activists around the world through the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
Olympic dream
Two years earlier, Fasihi had already taken the first step towards her Olympic dream when she was selected via the so-called universality placement to participate in Tokyo 2020.
Universal placement is a policy established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that allows athletes from underrepresented countries to participate, even if they do not meet standard qualification criteria. This policy aims to ensure broader global representation and inclusion at the Olympic Games.
In Tokyo, Fasihi competed in the 100-meter sprint, marking Iran’s return to the event after a 57-year hiatus. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, also in Tokyo, Simin Safamehr made history by becoming the first female athlete to represent Iran at the Games, coincidentally competing in the 100-meter sprint, as well as the long jump.
Fasihi placed 50th in Tokyo, while facing scrutiny over her hijab, sparking a storm of debate on Iranian social media, with some saying the strict dress code was slowing her down, hampering her performance and limiting her media exposure and sponsorship opportunities.
But the Tokyo Olympics were also an opportunity for her to meet her sprinting idol, Jamaican track and field superstar Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. “I liked her even more when we met her. Her lifestyle is impressive because she is a professional athlete, a wife and a mother, and she helps out with many charities.”
For Fasihi, his performance in Tokyo was below his best, but that only fueled his ambition to do better next time.
“What makes the Paris Olympics (2024) different is that I will compete on my own merits, not on universal rankings,” Fasihi told Al Jazeera.
Despite systemic challenges, including the lack of official government support for elite female athletes in Iran, Fasihi remains determined to achieve her goals. She self-funds her training, competes and works to secure modest sponsorships.
Fasihi believes massive investment in the sport by countries like China, India and Japan will yield impressive results in Asian athletics, but notes the disparity of resources across the continent.
“In Qatar, for example, athletes work with American coaches and the federation invites analysts, physiotherapists and sports doctors from all over the world. Even China and Japan coordinate training camps in Florida (in the United States),” she said.
In May 2024, Fasihi competed in the Doha Diamond League 100-meter race, but finished last in the final to a star-studded team of sprinters from the United States, United Kingdom, Hungary and Jamaica .
At the Paris Olympics, she will be competing against the world’s best athletes. She is not someone who has unrealistic expectations. She is focused only on what she can control – and that is her performance.
“Competing in the Olympics is a big challenge,” Fasihi said. “My goal is to compete with myself. I want to beat my own record.
