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Sportshour: "I asked myself ‘if it’s not me, then who is it?’”

Discussion & Talk

farid-bike.jpg

08/08/2020 GMT

"I asked myself ‘if it’s not me, then who is it?’”

BBC World Service - Sportshour, "I asked myself ‘if it’s not me, then who is it?’”

Farid Noori's hopes of being the first Afghanistan mountain biker at the Olympics.

Farid Noori on his dream of becoming the first mountain biker from Afghanistan to compete at an Olympics.

I asked myself ‘if it’s not me, then who is it?’” - Farid Noori on his dream of becoming the first mountain biker from Afghanistan to compete at an Olympics.
Farid Noori grew up as a refugee in Pakistan after his family fled the Taliban when he was just two years old. He tells us about his early life in Pakistan, his return to Afghanistan and how he’s hoping to grow the sport in his homeland.  Noori recalls going to school in a Unicef tent and being able to see rocket shells and debris that were left over from the war.  He remembers learning to ride a bike while waiting in line for bread and he says he hopes his own Olympic ambitions can help pave the way for other athletes from Afghanistan.
 
“I thought my career was over at seventeen and to have gone through this a second time is pretty brutal” – Annabelle Lindsay on the rule change that has ended her international wheelchair basketball career.  Lindsay is one of a number of athletes, who have been told their disabilities no longer meet the new eligibility criteria set down by the International Paralympic Committee. She had been hoping to represent Australia at next year’s Paralympics and says the rule change could also see her lose her university scholarship in America. Lindsay took up wheelchair basketball after a serious knee-injury after a teenager ended her hopes of playing basketball.
 
This week saw Australian athletes past and present including – Mitchell Starc, Alyssa Healy, Julie Murray and Bronte Campbell - sleep at the Sydney Cricket Ground to raise funds for homeless young people. ‘Sports Stars Sleepout’ was organised by the Chappell Foundation and its founder – the former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell – joins us to discuss the success of the event and the inspiration behind it.
 
Sporting Witness remembers the late Junko Tabei, who back in 1975 became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. As well as being an achievement in its own right, Tabei had to defy the cultural norms in her home country of Japan where women were not expected to be world-class mountaineers.
 
And – with live sport continuing we found out what's happening at the second test match between England and Pakistan and we check in on the latest at the World Snooker Championship.

Photo: Farid Noori takes part in a mountain biking event (Credit: Farid Noori)

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