Kamia Yousufi ( fa, کیمیا یوسفی; born 20 May 1996 in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

) is an Afghan female sprinter. Her parents are originally from

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

Career

She competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in the women's 100 metres, where she finished in 22nd place in the preliminary round with a time of 14.02 seconds, a national record. She did not advance to round 1. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, Yousufi and

Farzad Mansouri Farzad Mansouri (born 19 March 2002) is an Afghan taekwondo practitioner. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mansouri and Kamia Yousufi carried Afghanistan's flag at the Opening Ceremony. Career Farzad Mansouri won a silver medal at the 2019 Asian ...

carried Afghanistan's flag at the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. Competing at the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

she finished sixth in the first preliminary heat running a time of 13.29 seconds, which was a new personal best and a national record. In August 2021, as the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

overran the country, Yousufi fled to Iran. In July 2024, Yousufi was named in a six-person, gender equal Afghanistan team for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

in Paris. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said they did not recognise any female members of the team as only male sports were practiced in the country.

References

External links

* 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Mashhad Afghan female sprinters Olympic athletes for Afghanistan Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Iranian people of Afghan descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Olympic female sprinters {{Afghanistan-athletics-bio-stub