‘Free Afghan women’: BGirl stages first political protest of the Games

An Afghan breaker who starred in the Olympics’ first-ever dance battle has also become the first athlete of the games to stage a political protest, after she ripped off her over-shirt during her performance to reveal a cape bearing the words, “Free Afghan Women”.

Manizha Talash, who was representing the refugee team, was born and began breaking in Afghanistan. She is not one of the three men and three women athletes representing Afghanistan, although the Taliban does not recognise the three female athletes.

The International Olympic Committee forbids political points to be made on the field of play or at ceremonies. Since Tokyo it has allowed athletes to express themselves to journalists and through social media, but only if it’s not targeted at people or countries and is not disruptive.

Talash did not address journalists after her protest and spoke briefly only to Britain’s BBC through an interpreter. The reporter, Katie Gornall, said Talash said her performance showed “anything is possible” and that it was “very difficult for me to pursue my dream”.

Talash grew up in Afghanistan and joined a breaking collective in Kabul when she was 17, and saw a video of a man dancing on his head. Her relatives didn’t approve. “Everyone was judging me… my relatives were saying words behind my back and complained to my mother,” she told an earlier interview with the BBC.

In 2020, a car bomb exploded near the dance club. Her father was abducted by insurgents and has not been seen since. She kept dancing, hoping to compete in Paris, but her club was forced to close when one of the dancers was found to be a potential terrorist planning to bomb it.

“[Police] told us that this time we were lucky because there were people who wanted to bomb our club and if we loved our lives, we should shut it,” she said.