Netherlands’ Muslim athlete Sifan Hassan earned global acclaim after receiving her gold medal at the final 2024 Paris Olympic Games ceremony on Sunday, August 11, while wearing a hijab, in a defiant message again France’s controversial hijab ban.

Sifan delivered an incredible burst in the final 250 meters of the women’s marathon, clinching gold with an Olympic record time of 2:22:55.

The Dutch runner had already picked up two bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m races at this Olympics.

The 31-year-old became the first athlete to medal in all three of the long-distance events at the same Olympic Games since Czech Emil Zatopek in 1952.

In previous Olympics, the men’s marathon has taken place on the final day with the medalists being presented on the podium at the closing ceremony. Paris was the first Olympics to boast gender parity, and the women’s race was run on the final day meaning the women were presented with their medals at the closing ceremony instead.

While receiving her gold medal in front of fellow athletes and a packed crowd at the Stade de France, Hassan wore a maroon-colored hijab.

The image of her stood on top of the podium struck a chord with fans after the host country controversially banned its own athletes from wearing head coverings at the Olympics.

Social Media Reactions

Viewers took to X to praise Hassan with one user saying: “Sifan Hassan wearing her hijab to her gold medal crowning ceremony for the women’s marathon, after France banned females from wearing hijabs at the 2024 games. She is so powerful. What a woman!”

Another said: “Congrats to Hassan! Love seeing the image of her wearing hijab in the host country that banned its own athletes from wearing it.”

A third user claimed it was an ‘unforgettable moment for her and the entire world’.

Similarly, Instagram users praised her, with one commenting: “The last medalist of Paris 2024 is a woman who chooses to wear hijab. The irony of that being in a host country that bans hijab in sport is incredible.”

A person wrote: “How ironic! A slap in the face of xenophobic France, which prevented its own athletes from participating because of their hijabs. And there stands Sifan proudly receiving her gold medal while wearing her hijab. FANTASTIC!”

“SUCH A STATEMENT WEARING HIJAB THANK YOU SISTER,” a netizen added.

Last September, French Minister of Sports Amelia Oudea-Castera announced athletes representing France would not be allowed to wear the hijab.

Last September, French Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera announced that athletes representing France at the Paris Games would not be allowed to wear the hijab in line with the country’s secularism principle and rules against displaying religious symbols at sporting events.

The rule was swiftly met with a strong wave of backlash, as The Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation argued: “This ban contradicts the principles of equality, inclusivity, and respect for cultural diversity that the Olympics stand for.”

Amnesty International labeled the Hijab ban as “discriminatory” and “hypocritical,” a week before the Games commenced, and wrote: “French authorities made it emphatically and unashamedly clear… that their proclaimed efforts at improving gender equality and inclusivity in sports do not apply to one group of women and girls – those Muslim women and girls who wear religious head coverings.”

The human rights organization reportedly highlighted how banning the hijab was particularly jarring considering the 2024 Olympics was labeled as the first gender-equal Olympics – yet Muslim women were being discriminated against and singled out.

Source: MSN

Days before the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony is held in Paris, France came under fire from sports and civil rights organizations. On 24 September 2023, sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra announced a ban prohibiting the wearing of hijabs by athletes representing the country. In recent weeks she has doubled down on the decision.

Though French sporting authorities have expressed a commitment to the Olympic values of “excellence, respect and friendship”, groups including Human Rights Watch and the Sport & Rights Alliance have called out the “discriminatory hypocrisy” of prohibiting the wearing of headscarves by national sportspeople. The ruling has a direct effect on French Muslim athletes including basketball players Salimata Sylla and Helene Ba, who have both previously worn hijabs while competing.

“How can such values be embraced when the French authorities’ efforts to improve gender equality and inclusivity in sports do not apply to one group of women and girls?” asked Amnesty International in an article about the decision.

While the ban only applies to French athletes, sports campaign groups warn that it violates the rights of Muslim women and girls, and has a “devastating impact on their participation in sport”.

Here are some trailblazing athletes from around the world who will be wearing hijabs at Paris 2024.

Tina Rahimi, Australia

When she steps into the ring in Paris, Tina Rahimi (pictured above) will be the first female Muslim boxer to represent Australia at the Olympic Games. That achievement comes two years after winning bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Despite only taking up boxing as a hobby in 2017, Rahimi now has her sights set on gold in the women’s featherweight contest.

Taking part in combat sports as a hijabi woman has not been easy for Rahimi. In a recent interview, she described repeated experiences of discrimination. She has also expressed her frustration with the French authorities’ decision on Instagram.

“It’s so unfortunate for the athletes in France because [wearing the hijab] has nothing to do with your performance and it should not get in the way of you being an athlete,” she said.

“It’s so hard to be an Olympic athlete and to think that you have to give away your faith to participate in these events. Everyone should be equal — how is my hijab going to affect anything?”

Safiya al-Sayegh, United Arab Emirates

At just 22, Emirati cyclist Safiya al-Sayegh is the first woman cyclist from the United Arab Emirates to compete in the Olympic road race. Her sporting journey began eight years ago, when she and her father took bike rides around their neighborhood together.

Al-Sayegh has come a long way since then. In 2023 she took part in her first UCI Women’s World Tour event with the professional UAE Team ADQ and travelled to Hangzhou, China, to compete in the Asian Games.

Now she hopes to be in the running for a medal in Paris. As she explained in a recent interview: “I am trying to pave a way that no other woman ever did in my country, which is a privilege and a big responsibility, too. I’d like to set the standard high and do my best for whoever wants to follow.”

Nahid Kiani, Iran

When Nahid Kiani steps onto the mat in Paris, she will be representing Iran in taekwondo at the Olympic Games. Kiani, who began practicing taekwondo at the age of eight, has an impressive track record. She won the gold medal in the women’s bantamweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kiani also secured bronze medals at the 2016 Asian Championships and the 2018 Asian Games.

Competing as a hijabi athlete has presented its challenges for Kiani. She has faced discrimination and has been vocal about the importance of allowing athletes to compete without compromising their religious beliefs. “It’s not just about winning medals; it’s about representing my faith and my country with pride,” she has said. Kiani is determined to make her mark in the women’s 57kg taekwondo competition in Paris.

Dunya Abutaleb, Saudi Arabia

Starting out in taekwondo at eight years old, Saudi champion Dunya Abutaleb trained at a boys’ club because there were no girls to compete with. Now 27, she is the first Saudi Arabian woman to earn an Olympic team place to compete in the sport.

Abutaleb’s competition record is impressive, winning bronze medals at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, and at the 2022 Asian Championships. She is now determined to shine in the Olympic women’s 49kg competition.

“Being the first woman is a great challenge for me — when I achieve in my sport, I don’t do it only in my name. I do it in the name of Saudi Arabia,” she has said.

Marwa Bouzayani, Tunisia

Tunisian 3,000m steeplechaser Marwa Bouzayani is gearing up for her second Olympics in Paris. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, she came in sixth place. No doubt, she will be hoping to improve on that performance this year.

Bouzayani, who competes in a hijab and modest attire, has said she hopes to be a role model for Muslim girls, showing them “that success in elite sports can be realized without forsaking religious values and beliefs”.

Farzaneh Fasihi, Iran

Farzaneh Fasihi, Iran’s record-breaking sprinter, will be competing in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris Olympics. Born in Isfahan, Fasihi has been a trailblazer in Iranian athletics. She holds the national record for the 60 meters indoor with a time of 7.20 seconds. Fasihi’s journey has been marked by perseverance and resilience, overcoming numerous obstacles to reach the pinnacle of her sport.

Fasihi’s achievements include winning gold in the 60 meters at the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. She has also competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2023 World Athletics Championships. “Every race is a testament to my hard work and dedication,” Fasihi has said. She hopes to inspire other Muslim girls to pursue their dreams without compromising their values.

Source: Hyphen

As the world gets ready to celebrate sport and the best athletes and coaches in the world, there is a push by Olympic organizers to emphasize gender equality at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

On March 8, 2024 (not coincidentally International Women’s Day), the International Olympic Committee announced there would be complete gender parity on the field at this summer’s Games.

“We are about to celebrate one of the most important moments in the history of women at the Olympic Games, and in sport overall,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.

But the reality is that gender parity doesn’t necessarily mean open to all women. There are a number of women who have been dreadfully left behind in all the excitement about women athletes and by the hosts who claim to be celebrating their existence.

France bans women in hijab (an Islamic headscarf) from participating in sport. As the Olympic host, France could not ban athletes from all around the world from wearing a headscarf, so they banned their own athletes instead. When this was announced last September, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said: “No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.”

How can France claim to champion women when it is stripping them away from sport in a move that is blatantly opposed to the IOC’s own human rights framework? The Olympic Charter states clearly: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

France claims that secularism, which is at the heart of French identity, is at risk of being compromised by Muslim women in headscarves on the field of play. And because the country has determined that athletes representing France are technically public servants, then a strict regime of secularism is required. Recreational leagues and teams are not permitted to allow hijabs anywhere near the court, field or gym.

Why is a hijab-clad woman sprinting down the sideline and scoring a goal for France considered a threat to identity? How including women in sport, and showing solidarity with them as they choose to act on their personal rights of religious expression, is bad? Why not grow sport in different communities in France and let Black and brown women who are deeply connected to sport play and enjoy life? Apparently there’s no joie de vivre allowed for you in sports if you are a Muslim woman who chooses to cover.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International released a report about the violations of Muslim women’s and girls’ rights because of the hijab sports ban in France.

It’s baffling and enraging to read the testimonies of many of the athletes from Muslim communities who are not permitted to play. The groups like Sports & Rights Alliance, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the IOC objecting to the ban and demanded that they “publicly call on sporting authorities in France to overturn all bans on athletes wearing the hijab in French sport, both at Paris 2024 and at all times and all levels of sport.”

There are groups like Les Hijabeuses and Basket Pour Toutes that continue to play and advocate publicly for hijab-wearing athletes. They hold festivals and tournaments but they are not included in any recognized type of sport in France and have no possibility of further opportunities.

On the same day that the IOC released its own statement about gender parity, more than 80 athletes, including WNBA stars Natasha Cloud, Layshia Clarendon, USA Olympian Breanna Stewart and Olympic medallist fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad signed an open letter to urge the French Federation of Basketball (FFBB) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to immediately overturn the hijab ban and uphold international human rights laws and standards in sports.

The IOC replied that discrimination of this kind is against the Olympic Charter, but added, “freedom of religion is interpreted in many different ways by sovereign states. This is reflected in national approaches to sport, too. In practice, the wearing of the hijab, veil or headscarf is highly debated in many countries.”

The letter then asserted that competing for French national teams meant those athletes are civil servants and must adhere to te “principles of secularism and neutrality.” Basically, athletes and participants have to adhere to principles of the Olympic host nation even if those principles are against the actual Olympic Charter.

This ban on hijab that is meant to uphold French identity isolates and marginalizes French Muslim women even more. It seems almost surreal that the Olympics are being hosted by a country that actively and ruthlessly excludes women from sport.

Source: CBC News