KABUL, Afghanistan - The neighborhood boys shout at Mehboba Ahdyar when she leaves home. "Hero, hero! Look at the hero of our country," they yell at Ahdyar, one of Afghanistan's fastest female runners.
![Mehbooba Ahadyar 19, an Olympic track star runs during practice session at a Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday , March 10, 2008. Ahdyar is the only female on Afghanistan's four-person Olympics team to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [Agencies]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080318/000802ab4a630949651708.jpg)
Mehbooba Ahadyar 19, an Olympic track star runs during practice session at a Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 10, 2008. Ahdyar is the only female on Afghanistan's four-person Olympics team to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [Agencies] |
But the boys are not saluting a top athlete. Their sarcastic jabs are meant to poke fun at a teenage girl trying to realize Olympic-sized dreams.
Ahdyar, a 19-year-old middle-distance runner, is the only female on Afghanistan's four-member Olympic team.
"I feel bad about all these things that happen to me every day, but I'll still march forward," Ahdyar said last week. "I never show weakness. I'll fight through these challenges."
![Mahboba Ahdyar, an Afghan runner for the Olympic Games, stretches during a media event in Kabul March 15, 2008. Ahdyar is the only woman among four Afghans due to represent the war-torn country at August's Beijing Olympics and the slightly built 19-year-old 1,500 metre runner stands little chance of a medal. Competing, however, is more about pride and showing the world what Afghan women can do. Picture taken March 15, 2008. [Agencies]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080318/000802ab4a630949649207.jpg)
Mahboba Ahdyar, an Afghan runner for the Olympic Games, stretches during a media event in Kabul March 15, 2008. [Agencies] |
Afghanistan, which has never won an Olympic medal, was banned from the 2000 Games in Sydney because the Taliban regime outlawed women from taking part in sports. The country participated in the Atlanta Games in 1996, before the Taliban came to power, and the Athens Games in 2004.
Ahdyar faces an uphill battle for Olympic success. Practice facilities are Spartan at best in Afghanistan, which is still fighting its way through a violent Taliban insurgency six years after the hard-line regime's ouster.
Although women's rights have improved dramatically since 2001, women here are still second-class citizens. Most wear the all-covering burqa in public and would need male family members' permission before tackling anything remotely as ambitious as trying to become an Olympic athlete.
![Mehbooba Ahadyar 19, an Olympic track star runs with Massoud Azizi 20, during there practice session at a Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday , March 10, 2008. Ahdyar is the only woman among four Afghans due to represent the war-torn country at August's Beijing Olympics and the slightly built 19-year-old 1,500 metre runner stands little chance of a medal. Competing, however, is more about pride and showing the world what Afghan women can do. Picture taken March 15, 2008. [Agencies]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080318/000802ab4a63094968ee24.jpg)
Mehbooba Ahadyar 19, an Olympic track star runs with Massoud Azizi 20, during there practice session at a Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 10, 2008. [Agencies] |
Taliban militants often target organizations and individuals who champion women's issues, and the taunting by neighborhood boys - a mere nuisance in other societies - could draw the attention of militant suicide bombers.
"We are scared, really scared about the security situation in our country, and of the people who have negative views about my family," said her mother, Moha Jan. But she added: "These problems cannot stop us from supporting our daughter."
During practice - held inside Kabul's main sports stadium, where the Taliban used to carry out public executions - Ahdyar wears a headscarf, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
![Mehbooba Ahadyar 19 , an Olympic track star posses as she holds a trophy at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 11, 2008. Ahdyar is the only woman among four Afghans due to represent the war-torn country at August's Beijing Olympics and the slightly built 19-year-old 1,500 metre runner stands little chance of a medal. Competing, however, is more about pride and showing the world what Afghan women can do. Picture taken March 15, 2008. [Agencies]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080318/000802ab4a630949696e25.jpg)
Mehbooba Ahadyar 19 , an Olympic track star posses as she holds a trophy at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 11, 2008. [Agencies] |
She will soon travel to Malaysia for five months to train before the Beijing Games in August.
Her times are not exactly world-class. Ahdyar runs 1,500 meters a full minute slower than the Olympic record.
Her 800-meter times are not much stronger, but Afghan officials say just taking part is the most important thing.
