Tehran, Iran – In 2021, the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games were held in Konya, Turkey.
Farzaneh Fasihi's heart is pounding as she prepares to stand on the starting line. The aftereffects of COVID-19 are still lingering and she is exhausted.
She is heartbroken but determined to compete.
When the starter's gun goes off, she sprints forward, moving her legs faster than she's ever been before.
As she crossed the finish line, she collapsed — not from exhaustion but from the overwhelming emotion of having broken her own 100-meter record and won the silver medal in a staggering time of 11.12 seconds.
“The night before the race, all the memories run through my mind. All the hardships and successes I have endured pass before my eyes like a film,” Fasihi told Al Jazeera in a Zoom interview from Belgrade, Serbia. She is currently taking part in a training camp for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which start on July 26 and will compete in her favourite event, the 100 metres, as Iran's fastest female runner ever.
Fasihi is no stranger to challenges, but a strong support system in her personal life has helped her get through it all.
“I didn't want to do it.”
Born in 1993 in Isfahan, Iran, the 31-year-old Fasihi comes from a sporting family: her father was a volleyball player and her brother was a champion swimmer and diver.
“Before he got married, my father always accompanied me to all my training sessions,” she recalls, “and my mother accompanied me to all my matches. Without their support, I wouldn't have been successful.”
Fasihi did gymnastics from age 5 until 12, and recalls that her first foray into sprinting was more by chance than by design.
“In middle school, my gym teacher forced me to participate in a running competition, even though I didn't want to,” Fasihi recalled. That day, she broke the provincial record and ignited her passion for athletics.
He made his international debut in 2016.
Fasihi's team exceeded expectations, winning a silver medal in the 4x400m relay at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
But her outstanding performances didn't propel her sprinting career to new heights, and with little support from the Iranian Athletics Federation, she dropped it all to become a personal fitness trainer.
That all changed in late 2018 when she decided to give competitive sprinting another try.
A year later, that decision had an unexpected result: She married Amir Hosseini, one of her coaches and biggest supporters.
In 2020, with Hosseini's support system firmly established, Fasihi's career has literally grown by leaps and bounds.
She competed at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, where the relatively unknown runner swept the track in the 60-meter dash, setting a staggering entry record of 7.29 seconds.
Not only did Fasihi come out of nowhere to post a fast time, but she also made history as the first Iranian woman to compete in the championships. Her electrifying performance in Belgrade earned her the nickname “Jaguar” for the first time, a testament to her blistering speed off the starting line.
A year later, in 2021, she signed with Serbian athletics club BAK, becoming the first female legionnaire in Iranian athletics history (essentially when a club signs and sponsors a foreign athlete, who then moves to compete).
“Becoming a Legionnaire was a new path. It was a big risk, but deep down I felt I had to do it,” she said, hoping it would inspire other Iranian female athletes.
Get the facts straight – this is for the people
In 2023, Fasihi won gold in the 60-meter dash at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, clocking an astounding 7.28 seconds.
The personal best was outstanding and cause for celebration, but while setting a new Asian 60m record would normally be cause for wild celebration, the day will be remembered for something much deeper.
Fassihi shouted into the cameras as he walked to the podium: “For the Iranian people. For the happiness of the Iranian people!”
Her moment of protest was broadcast on social media, with Fasihi refusing to raise the Iranian flag, instead bowing her head and crying silently, and refusing to sing the national anthem on the victory podium.
This was her statement, or her way of expressing the tragedy of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who collapsed and died in 2022 after reportedly being detained by Iranian morality police for wearing an “inappropriate hijab” (scarf).
Amini's death made international headlines and galvanised women's activists around the world through the Women, Life and Liberty Movement.
Olympic Dreams
Two years ago, Fassihi had already taken the first step towards his Olympic dream when he was selected to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Games through what is known as universal placement.
Universal placement is a policy set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that allows athletes from under-represented countries to participate even if they do not meet the standard qualification criteria. The policy exists to ensure greater global representation and inclusivity in the Olympic Games.
In Tokyo, Fasihi competed in the 100 meters, marking Iran's return to the event after 57 years. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, also held in Tokyo, Simin Safamehr made history as the first female athlete to represent Iran at the Olympics, coincidentally competing in the 100 meters and the long jump.
Fasihi placed 50th in Tokyo but throughout her time there she faced harsh criticism over her hijab, sparking a fierce debate on social media in Iran, with some claiming that the strict dress code was holding her back, hindering her performance and limiting her media exposure and sponsorship opportunities.
But the Tokyo Olympics also gave her the opportunity to meet her sprinting idol, Jamaican track and field superstar Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. “Meeting her made me like her even more. Her lifestyle is impressive – being a professional athlete, wife and mother and supporting many charities.”
For Fassihi, her performance in Tokyo was less than her best, but that only fueled her ambition to do better next time.
The charm of Paris is [2024 Olympics] “The difference is that I will be competing on my own merits and not on a universal ranking,” Fasihi told Al Jazeera.
Despite institutional challenges in Iran, including a lack of official government support, especially for elite female athletes, Fasihi remains determined to achieve her goals: She pays for her own training, takes part in competitions and works to secure modest sponsorship.
Fasihi believes that massive investment in the sport by countries such as China, India and Japan will bring great results for athletics in Asia, but points out the disparity in resources across the continent.
“In Qatar, for example, players will train with American trainers and the federation is inviting analysts, physiotherapists and sports medicine doctors from around the world. China and Japan are also arranging training camps in Florida. [in the United States],” she said.
In May 2024, Fasihi competed in the 100 meters at the Doha Diamond League, but finished last in the final, which featured star-studded athletes from the United States, Great Britain, Hungary and Jamaica.
At the Paris Olympics, she will be competing against the best athletes in the world. She is not one to have unrealistic expectations; she is only focused on what she can control: her performance.
“It's a big challenge to compete in the Olympics,” Fasihi said. “My goal is to compete against myself and I want to beat my own records.”
