Fariba Rezayee

Who is Fariba Rezayee?

Fariba Rezayee is an Afghan judoka, who is perhaps best known as one of the first two women athletes from Afghanistan to compete in the Summer Olympics. Afghanistan was banned from the Olympics in 1999 due to its discrimination against women under Taliban rule as well as its prohibition of sports of any kind, and thus missed out on the Sydney Olympics of the year 2000. In June 2003, the IOC lifted the suspension imposed on Afghanistan during the 115th IOC Session in Prague, and the country sent a delegation of five competitors to the Athens Games in 2004. Razayee and Robina Muqimyar were two women contingents in the delegation, becoming the first ever women to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympics.