Manizha Talash, an Afghan breakdancer competing for the refugee team, was disqualified from the Paris Olympics last month after displaying the words “Free Afghan Women” on her cape during her routine. Despite the disqualification, Talash, who lives in Spain, said on Sunday that she had planned the protest for four months and would do it again without hesitation.
Talash wore a light blue cape emblazoned with the message in large white letters during her pre-qualifier loss to India Sardjoe of the Netherlands at Place de la Concorde. The action, she said, was inspired by the “Hunger Games” movie.
Olympic rules prohibit political slogans and statements on the field of play and podiums. The 21-year-old was subsequently disqualified by breaking’s governing body.
“As long as I can remember, I grew up with the sound of bombs around me every day, with my loved ones—some of whom I lost in the bombings,” Talash told Reuters in Paris, where she attended the Paralympic Games after a local association for Afghan women raised funds to fly her from Spain. Her visit coincided with fellow Afghan Zakia Khudadadi winning a bronze medal in taekwondo, marking the first Paralympic medal for a refugee team athlete at the Olympics.
“I am like a bomb because I grew up surrounded by bombs,” Talash said. “I used my first competition, my first dance performance, to take a stand and highlight the cause I wanted to support. If I had to do it again, I would.”
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, their restrictions on women and freedom of expression have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and many foreign governments.
Talash, who lived in Pakistan for a year before moving to Spain after the Taliban took Kabul, said Afghan women are “in a cage” and that it was her duty to “resist.”
“For four months, I thought about how I could make sure the world heard the cause of Afghan women,” she said. “But I want to be clear—this was not a political message; it was a message of human rights.”
“I’m not just a sports person; I’m a hip-hop artist who wants to think and dress differently,” Talash added during a press conference, tears streaming down her cheeks. “My message wasn’t about the hijab; it was about freedom of movement and education for women in Afghanistan.”
After drying her eyes, two pearly jewels, resembling tears, remained beneath them. “It’s a message, and it symbolizes that a woman’s tears matter, and we must be careful not to cause women to shed them,” she said.
Western governments, led by Washington, have made it clear that formal recognition of the Taliban is contingent upon reversing their stance on women’s rights and reopening high schools to girls.
“I’m fighting not just for this generation, but for future generations who are at risk of becoming illiterate,” Talash said. “The cape I wore at the Olympics was a symbol—like wings for Afghan women to take flight and break free.”
