Refugee Athlete B-Girl Talash Set to Make Olympic History

Shawn Tay and Manizha Talash When Breaking makes its Olympic debut at Paris 2024 tomorrow, there’s one name on the card that promises to stand out from all the others: that of B-Girl Talash.

The 33rd and final athlete to be added to the line-up of elite Breakers (16 B-Boys and 17 B-Girls) who qualified for the Games, Talash was given a special berth to compete here by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as part of efforts to shine a spotlight on the estimated 100 million people who are forcibly displaced around the world.

Twenty-one-year-old Manizha Talash is part of a 37-strong team of athletes known as the IOC Olympic Refugee Team competing at Paris 2024 across 12 sports. Their mission is to show that refugees are an enrichment to society by demonstrating resilience and excellence, and in so doing produce a powerful message of hope, belonging, and inclusion.

B-Girl Talash was born in Afghanistan but fled to Pakistan a few days after the Taliban retook control of her country in August 2021. She was just 18 years old.

After a period of relative liberation in Afghanistan, the Taliban re-introduced strict conditions for girls and women, prohibiting them from studying, working or even going to public spaces without being chaperoned by a male guardian. Music and dancing were effectively outlawed.

This of course proved problematic for a young female Breaker with outsized aspirations. Having fallen head over heels for Breaking a year earlier after seeing a video online of a Breaker doing a head spin, Talash joined a small but dedicated Breaking community in the capital city of Kabul, where she continued to pursue her passion despite the ever-present threat of arrest or worse.

“We told everyone that we were practicing sport – this was before I knew Breaking was going to be part of the Olympics – because dancing is prohibited,” she says now. The stakes were also higher for Talash than the other members of the Superiors Crew, being the only woman.

After Talash was featured in the media as Afghanistan’s first B-Girl, her crew received bomb threats and claim that two cars exploded outside their club during competitions. The police eventually forced them to close down the club, saying it was too dangerous for them to continue.

But as any B-Boy or B-Girl around the world can attest, Breaking teaches young people far more than merely power moves and freezes. It also teaches community, inclusion, self-worth and the confidence to pursue your dreams, whatever they may be.

Forced to practice at home under increasingly worsening conditions, Talash and eight fellow members of the Superiors Crew ultimately decided to pursue their dreams by leaving the country – and their families – behind.

“I didn't leave Afghanistan because I’m afraid of the Taliban or because I can’t live in Afghanistan,” Talash says. “I left because I want to do what I can for the girls in Afghanistan, for my life, my future, for everyone.”

The crew initially fled to neighbouring Pakistan, where Talash was forced to stay in hiding for a year owing to the fact that she did not possess a passport. “Leaving Afghanistan was very difficult," she says. “I had never thought about leaving my country, which is why I didn’t even have a passport. I was depressed and couldn’t do anything. I didn’t know what was in my future.”

Talash and the rest of her crew eventually wound up as refugees in Spain, their home for the last two years. It was here that her talents as a B-Girl were discovered and she was offered support through the Refugee Athlete Scholarship Programme, managed by the Olympic Refugee Foundation and funded by Olympic Solidarity.

World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) President Shawn Tay says the global governing body is delighted to welcome Talash to the competition in Paris and to draw attention to the plight of refugees around the world.

“Talash embodies resiliency and tenacity,” Tay says.

“She has gone through so much already at such a young age, and Breaking has given her the courage and inspiration to follow her heart, which has led her here to the biggest sporting stage in the world. She is already an exceptional role model and we hope, through her performance here in Paris, that she encourages many more young girls and boys to have the courage to live up to their potential as well.”

Talash is now set to become part of history, joining B-Girl India of the Netherlands as the two first Breakers to ever participate at an Olympic Games when they go head-to-head in a Pre-Qualifier Battle to determine who moves on to the Round Robin stage.

Talash will definitely have her work cut out for her. India, 18, has been Breaking since the age of 7 and qualified directly for the Olympic Games by winning gold at the European Games in 2023. A year earlier, she became the youngest Red Bull BC One World Finals champion at age 16, only a week after being crowned European Champion in Manchester. She also won her first Dutch National Championship the same year.

But win or lose on Friday, B-Girl Talash says she’s happy just to have made it this far after a tumultuous few years.

“I’m happy because this was my dream before and now, I am living the dream,” she says. “It goes to show that anything is possible in this world if you put your mind to it.”

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Published on 7 August 2024