Important for my country

Nick Britten reports from Athens:

She often runs in a headscarf and her personal best is nowhere near the world's top stars, but when Robina Muqimyar takes to the track for her 100m heat today she will make Olympic history.

Muqimyar, 18, is in Athens as one of the first two women to represent Afghanistan in the Games. Under the previous regime, women were not allowed to compete, but the fall of the Taliban has produced the kind of story that... encompasses the Olympic spirit.
.....
"From when I was very young, I always used to run about, but I was never able to go out and run properly. When the war ended, I began going to school to learn to read, and they asked the students if we wanted to do sports. I enjoyed it, and when they came looking for volunteers for the Olympics I was the first up."

Quite how she will react when she walks out in front of a large crowd and lines up for her first "proper" race is impossible to predict.

She admitted that she was spooked by the fireworks above the Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony. The bangs and flashes brought back bad memories of the fighting in her country.

"But this is important for my country, too. The women in Afghanistan will see us and know that they can do anything. Just to go out there and stand on the track will be like winning."

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