We talk a lot about freedom here at Stolen Goat. The freedom to cycle, to adventure. To get out there and do what we love. To simply be ourselves. But imagine if that freedom was snatched away? That’s precisely what happened to Mina and Arefa. These women were part of a professional cycling team in Afghanistan, but after the Taliban retook control of their country, they faced persecution simply for wanting to continue to do the sport that they love.
Having fled their homes, leaving behind their families, friends and team mates, Mina and Arefa are now in the UK thanks to help from the charity ‘Help Children Now’. Under careful guidance from their coach they now call themselves ‘The Warriors’ and they are training hard to qualify to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics so they can represent all of the Afghan girls and women who have had their freedoms taken away. It’s impossible not to be completely inspired, and humbled, by their incredible strength and determination to ‘be unstoppable’. Not only in pursuing their cycling goals, but to stand up and be a voice for those who have had their voices diminished.
As we type, Mina and Arefa are on their way to Thailand to compete in a time trial race at the Asian Road Championships – the first in a series of qualifying events for the Olympics. These women have a very busy training schedule, alongside studying English and preparing to start their academic studies at Brunel University in September. So it was a real privilege to spend an afternoon with them to hear more about their training regime, their Olympic dream… and how they like to unwind when they’re not busy working hard!
Read on to find out more about these incredible young women and learn how you can support them on their journey.
In conversation with… Mina and Arefa: The Afghan women cycling towards their Olympic dreams
“We call ourselves The Warriors”
Mina: Hello, I’m Mina. I’m a member of the Afghan women’s cycling team. We call ourselves “The Warriors”. We arrived here in the UK in October 2022, and now we’re training to qualify for the Olympics. I first started cycling in 2016. Me and my friends got together to create the first girls’ cycling team in Herat, in Afghanistan. Even then, it was difficult for us. We had a long journey and we faced many hard situations. But for me, cycling is freedom. While I’m cycling, I forget about everything. I forget about every tension that I have in my life and I just enjoy riding my bike.
Arefa: Hello, I’m Arefa and I’m also a member of the Afghan cycling team. I first started cycling in 2017. We had to do our training and riding indoors in a gym, because my city in Afghanistan did not allow girls to cycle outside. Despite this, we did our best to keep going. Now, thanks to cycling, I have the opportunity to qualify to compete in the Olympic games.
“We were on our way to making our dreams come true… that was all taken away.”
Mina: Before the Taliban arrived in Afghanistan and took control of my country, we were cycling and even then, it was hard. We faced many challenges and barriers. But we tried our best to be the role models in Afghanistan and to motivate other girls. We were on our way to making our dreams come true. But unfortunately after the arrival of the Taliban in Afghanistan, all of that was taken away. If we stayed in our country, there was no chance for us to continue dreaming and to continue cycling. That was really hard, and I try not think about that situation too much because I lost hope. I didn’t want to live anymore. I had to leave Afghanistan. Now that I’m here in the UK, with the help of volunteers from the charity ‘Help Children Now’ and support from our coach, James Hey, I have so many opportunities. Our dreams were taken away, but now I can continue dreaming the biggest dreams.
Arefa: When the Taliban came to my country, I lost my hope. I had to leave behind my home and my family, so that I could have a chance to pursue my dreams of becoming a cyclist. That’s why it’s so important to me now that I keep cycling, and I keep that dream alive.
“We’re chasing our goals and dreams on behalf of all the Afghan girls who don’t have that opportunity.”
Mina: Before the Taliban, I was cycling really for myself: I wanted to be a professional cyclist and I wanted to follow my dream. But now it’s not only about me: it’s about the millions of Afghan girls who don’t have the chance to go to school, to go to college. Who don’t have to chance to participate in any sports. Now, I try my best not only for myself and for my family, but for my country. I’m representing all these girls who are in Afghanistan and who don’t have the chance to live as a human; who’ve had their basic human rights taken away from them.
Arefa: Mina has really put it into words… we’re training hard and we’re chasing our goals and dreams on behalf of all the Afghan girls and women who don’t have that opportunity.
“When I’m cycling outside, I feel free.”
Mina: We train six days a week. For four of those days we train indoors on turbo trainers in our rooms. Then we have two outdoor training sessions a week where we’ll go to places such as Richmond Park and Hillingdon. I really like the outdoor training sessions the best. I get to ride my bike on the street, and there’s no one to stop me and say: “you’re a girl and you shouldn’t be riding a bike.” So that’s really enjoyable for me.
Arefa: I also really enjoy cycling outside, because when I’m cycling outside I feel that I am free. My favourite thing about training is riding down hills – it feels like flying! I find climbing more difficult, I try my best to do well on the climbs, but it’s hard work.
Mina: I’m good at climbing but I struggle with a bit of fear going downhill so that’s a bit difficult for me.
Arefa: I’m also a bit scared of dogs! So when we’re training in Richmond Park we’ll often see lots of dogs and Mina and our coach James quite often joke “look, there’s your friends!”. We didn’t really have many dogs around as people’s pets in Afghanistan so I’m not used to them. Despite this, Richmond is my favourite place to train, followed by Hillingdon. The indoor sessions in our rooms can be quite tough.
Mina: The sessions indoors can be really boring – spending a few hours on the bike just in our rooms, that can get quite hard. Our coach keeps a track of all our sessions, but when we’re doing those training indoors it’s down to us to keep ourselves motivated.
“Thinking about the girls back in Afghanistan motivates us to keep pushing forward.”
Arefa: Mina and I help to motivate each other. When Mina is training indoors on the turbo, I’ll encourage her and then when I’m doing an indoor session Mina will come and help me to stay motivated. When we’re training for hours in our rooms we remind ourselves that it’s useful, and supporting each other helps us to enjoy our training.
Mina always says to me: “keep going, think about the Olympics, think about your family, think about the girls back in Afghanistan and the girls who can’t do it.” We do it for them. Thinking about the girls back in Afghanistan motivates us to keep pushing forward.
“I want to show what is possible.”
Mina: There were many people in Afghanistan – even my relatives – who tried to stop me pursuing my goals. They were trying to take away my motivation, and they tried to create many challenges for me. I never stopped dreaming and now I’m trying my best to make those dreams come true. It would mean so much to qualify for the Olympics, because by qualifying and participating, I can stand up and prove to all those people who told me “no you shouldn’t” that they were wrong. And it will be a strong answer to the Taliban, they always try to stop girls and remove girls from society in every sector. I will try to go to the Olympics to stand up against all the people who are against girls and their improvement. I want to show what is possible.
Arefa: It’s hard to believe that now I have an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. It was my dream, and now I can try to achieve that it feels unbelievable. I will never forget every person who has helped me on this journey – I’m so thankful.
“Cycling is not just about my dream. It provides a platform for me to fight for Afghan girls.”
Mina: Beyond the Olympics, I will also focus on my education and I will try to fight for Afghan girls and women – whether that’s through cycling, being an activist, or by continuing my education to ensure that I can represent and be an advocate for women in Afghanistan in any way possible.
Cycling is not just about my dream. It provides a platform for me to fight for Afghan girls. For their rights, and to raise their voice. It gives me an opportunity to show to the world and to the Taliban that I, as an Afghan girl, can achieve things. Through cycling, I can show the Taliban that I can do what I decide to do and I can be the best version of myself.
Arefa: Beyond the Olympics and cycling, I’m also going to be attending Brunel University to study Economics and Business. I’m going to work hard on my education, and I hope that after I graduate I can also achieve my goal of having my own business.
Mina: We’re so delighted to have received offers from Brunel University. I really appreciate the university for accepting my application to become part of their student community. I’ll be studying Politics and International Relations, and I’ll be working just as hard on my education as I do on my cycling.
“When we’re not busy training or studying… we like dancing!”
Mina: When I’m not training, mostly I prefer to study and read books. I really enjoy reading… But sometimes it can get a bit boring, so me and Arefa get together in my room or her room and we play music and dance together. We also like watching movies together, we really like horror films – they’re exciting! And we like animated films too – we just recently went to see the new Little Mermaid film which we really enjoyed.
Arefa: I also really enjoy singing and listening to music. K-Pop is my favourite genre to listen to.
“We’ve had so much support to help us achieve our goal…” – How you can support Mina and Arefa and follow their journey
Mina: We’ve had so much support from people here in the UK to help us to achieve our goal of qualifying for the Olympics, which we really appreciate. If anyone would like to help us on our journey, you can check out our GoFundMe page which will help us with everything required to get to the Olympics.
Arefa: We also have an Instagram account called ‘The Warriors’, so we’d love it if people followed us on there to join us on our journey.
“Be unstoppable.”
With plenty of tea (and hot chocolate) drunk, and a shared love-hate relationship with turbo training discussed, it was soon time to let Mina and Arefa get back to their busy schedules and set about packing for their trip to Thailand for their Olympic qualifier race. But first, Mina left us with one last incredibly inspiring message:
Mina: I have a message, and it has two parts. The first part is for anyone reading this – any support you can give to me and my friends is so very appreciated. But please also do what you can to support Afghan girls and be a voice for them – in any way that you can.
The second part of my message is: To all of those people who have dreams and who are struggling with difficult situations. Never stop. Sometimes it can feel impossible and you want to give up. But those difficult situations will pass and your dreams will come true if you do what you can to be unstoppable.
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A huge thank you to Mina and Arefa for sharing their story with the Stolen Goat Herd. It’s safe to say, we’re all rooting for them as they make their bid for Olympic qualification and we can’t wait to see what incredible things these inspiring young women can achieve: in cycling and beyond. Don’t forget to follow The Warriors on Instagram to stay up to date with their journey, and if you can support them by donating, you can find their GoFundMe page here.
For now, we’ll be taking Mina’s message of ‘Be Unstoppable’ forward with us on every single bike ride and adventure.