THE country’s young female martial arts athlete Nargis has illuminated our rather insipid campaign at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia by winning a bronze medal at the karate competition. The talented 19-year-old, who belongs to the beleaguered Hazara community in Quetta that has braved years of violence, defeated her Nepali rival to become the first female karateka from Pakistan to win a medal at the Asiad. A reigning national karate champion, Nargis, who previously won a gold and a silver at the Asian karate championship in Sri Lanka two years ago, won many hearts as a self-assured individual who spoke to the media in Jakarta about her journey. Drawing inspiration from her compatriot Kulsoom Hazara, who became the first female karateka to represent Pakistan in international events in 2012, Nargis enrolled at a Quetta academy at the age of 11 and has not looked back since.

The road to success for any athlete, particularly those who rise to the top of their respective games, is never an easy one. For female athletes, though, the challenges are far greater and much more complex, that could range from struggling with identity in a society built around gendered stereotypes to thwarting harassment from male coaches, to striving for the same recognition and compensation as that granted to their male counterparts. And yet, the rise of female athletes in Pakistan, especially in the past decade or so, has been heart-warming. Thanks mainly to determined, talented women such as national women’s cricket captain Sana Mir, football captain Hajra Khan, athlete Naseem Hameed, swimmer Kiran Khan, tennis sensation Ushna Sohail and scores of others making their mark on competitive performances, Pakistan’s sportswomen have begun to garner a decent amount of attention and respect in society and in the media. Hopefully, the Nargis success story and her achievement at the mega event will catapult her as a role model that could go on to inspire scores of other young women to defy the odds and realise their dreams in sport.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2018