Fariba Hashimi rides from exile to Asian Games silver
Fariba Hashimi won silver in the women's road race at the Asian Games on 22 September 2026. The 23-year-old, who lives and trains in Italy, finished second on the course near Nagoya. It was the ride of her life The Guardian.
The road race is the simplest test in cycling. Everyone starts together and the first wheel across the line wins. Hashimi stayed in the fight at the front and took second place at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan Amu TV.
Hashimi hails from Faryab province in northern Afghanistan. She started riding as a teenager and was attacked with stones for cycling in public. To keep training, she and her sister Yulduz rode disguised as a man.
Yulduz is now a professional cyclist too. The sisters pushed each other on quiet roads and rough tracks. Both went on to compete at the Paris Olympics.
Hashimi left Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. She fled with the help of Alessandra Cappellotto, the Italian former world champion. From exile in Italy she rebuilt her racing full-time.
She arrived in Japan in strong form. She had already finished seventh in the women's individual time trial at these Games, where riders set off alone and race only the clock Reuters. In the road race she went one step further. She called the silver medal "something special" ABS-CBN News.
What makes this stand out is how little has come easy. Stones on a training ride. A disguise to turn the pedals. A new home, a new language, a new team. Then second place in Asia's biggest road race.
