Manizha Talash: Refugee breaking down barriers at Paris Olympics

Afghan athlete will compete in breaking at Summer Games as part of refugee team

Manizha Talash, originally from Afghanistan, stands for a portrait outside the Parish of the Inmaculado Corazon de Maria in Madrid, Spain, where she was granted asylum, June 11, 2024. The 21-year-oldShow more

The Paris Olympics might be a battle for national glory for many, but for some it is much more than sport. Manizha Talash is one such athlete.

Three years after she fled Afghanistan to dedicate her life to the new Olympic sport of breaking, Talash will be looking to fulfil her dream when she competes at the Paris Games as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.

Originally from Kabul, Talash stumbled upon breakdancing, or breaking as it is widely known, through social media just before turning 18. And she immediately fell in love with the sport.

“I wanted to do it, I wanted to learn it,” the 21-year-old said.

She found a club in Kabul where a dancer from the videos trained. “There were 55 boys, and I was the only girl,” she said. “I told myself, why can’t a girl do this?”

She thus became a part of a small group of breakdancers in Kabul where she was the only girl.

Soon, Talash started to get noticed. International news outlets published stories about the young Afghan woman defying cultural norms, which also made her a target.

“The Taliban don’t like it when a girl dances,” she said.

Meet the Refugee Olympic Team

However, her life changed, along with that of those around her, in August 2021 when the Taliban took control of Kabul, outlawing music and dancing.

Talash spent a year in Pakistan before she was granted refugee status in Spain alongside six other members of her crew.

She kept training but it wasn't until 2024 that, thanks to the efforts of friends, the Refugee Olympic Team found Talash, brought her to Madrid and sponsored her six-days-a-week training after securing a spot at the Olympics.

Around that time her mother, two brothers and a sister were granted refugee status and joined her in Madrid, giving Talash more determination.

"I feel like by doing what I'm doing, I'm doing something for the women in Afghanistan. For my girls there. I don't want to just talk, I want go out there and do something. To walk the walk," she said.

"I'm here because I want to reach my dream. Not because I’m scared,” she added.

She has had little time to train while adapting to a new country. And at various points, competing at the Games seemed beyond her reach. But she is glad to be a part of the journey.

“But when my friend told me I could join the refugee team, I was so happy,” Talash said. “I can now fly.”

Breaking, a competitive form of breakdancing, will make its debut at the Paris Games. Sixteen 'B-Girls' and 16 'B-Boys' will compete in the dance discipline that has its roots in New York of the 1970s.

The stakes will be high for breakers in Paris where the champions could be the only ones to ever win gold medals in the sport.

Los Angeles has already said breaking will not be part of its programme in 2028 and chances are it will not return when Brisbane hosts in 2032.

The women's competition will be held on August 9 and the men's on August 10 in the heart of the city at the Place de la Concorde.