Afghan cyclist Fariba Hashimi has won a silver medal in the women’s road race at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, adding a major achievement to a career shaped by the difficulties she faced while pursuing cycling in Afghanistan.
The 23-year-old finished second in the road race at the Shinshiro Cycling Road Course on Tuesday. China’s Guo Li claimed the gold medal, while Hong Kong’s Leung Wing Yee finished third to take bronze.
Hashimi’s silver medal came two days after she finished seventh in the women’s individual time trial at the Games. She completed the 24.2-kilometre course two minutes and three seconds behind Kazakhstan’s Rinata Sultanova, who won the event.
Her journey to the Asian Games podium has attracted particular attention because of the obstacles she faced when she began cycling in Afghanistan. Hashimi started riding competitively at the age of 15 after following her sister, Yulduz, into the sport.
According to Hashimi, she sometimes disguised herself as a man and wore masks while travelling to training sessions in her home province of Faryab because she feared being recognised and attacked. She recalled incidents in which people threw stones and bottles at her and her sister while they were cycling.
Hashimi eventually left Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and later settled in Italy, where she continued her cycling career. With assistance from former world road cycling champion Alessandra Cappellotto, Hashimi and her sister continued competing internationally and both represented Afghanistan at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Before winning her Asian Games silver medal, Hashimi had spoken about the personal importance of competing internationally as an Afghan woman. She said she hoped her journey could inspire other Afghan girls and help create opportunities for future generations of athletes.
Her Asian Games performance therefore adds another significant chapter to a career that has taken her from secretly training in Afghanistan to competing on an international stage.
Hashimi has also expressed a desire to eventually return to Afghanistan and inspire people in her country. She said her dream was for future Afghan athletes, particularly women, to have the opportunity to train and compete openly from inside the country.
The silver medal in Aichi-Nagoya gives Hashimi one of the most significant results of her international career and provides Afghanistan with another medal at the continental sporting event.
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