"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
Olympic Aspirations Realised and Unrealised
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Edited by J.A, Mangan and Mark Dyreson, London: Routledge 2012. ISBN 978-1-138-85366
The book consists of 17 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue. Individual chapters mainly evaluate aspects of specific past games including Mexico City, Montreal, Sydney, Athens, Beijing (4 chapters) and London as well as some more global thematic evaluative chapters.
For me by far the most interesting chapter was Gertrud Pfister’s Outsiders: Muslim Women and Olympic Games – barriers and Opportunities which explored the opportunities that women from Islamic countries have of participating in the Olympic Games and the barriers which they face when taking part in elite sport.
While the author’s analysis looks at a range of issues, the situation is well summed up in the statement: “taking up sport is scarcely reconcilable with women’s roles in many traditional societies, especially in Islamic cultures”.
The chapter documents women’s participation in the Olympics, noting the tradition in some countries of sending a male only team. There have been some great successes: In 1984, the Moroccan hurdler Nawal El Moutawakel was the first Muslim woman to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. In 1992, the Algerian runner Hassiba Boulmerka won the 1500m race. Yet in 2008 when a woman, the rower, Homa Hosseini, carried the Iranian flag during the opening ceremony, strict Islamists were infuriated. The author still concludes: “The growing number of women who carry the flags of their countries signals their acceptance and recognition of female Olympians and women’s sport as a whole”.
Among the reasons for the relative lack of Muslim women Olympians, the author suggests the following:
• Islamic cultures have not attached any importance to modern sport;
• The dearth of sporting infrastructure in Islamic countries (ie lack of
training facilities and financial support);
• Having to compete in the hijab;
• Attacks from Islamists;
• Conflicts with families;
• Society’s expectations that women do no more than finish school, marry and
start a family;
• Perceptions that participation in sport may affect the respectability of
women and the honour of their families;
The author quotes the respected muslim sports scientist, Leila Sfeir, who argues that: “Islamic religion in no way tries to depreciate, much less deny sport for women. On the contrary, it attributes great significance and function to physical strength and sport activities. Islam has a constant concern with one’s body, cleanliness, purification and force, with segregation of the sexes”.
Another positive step was the drafting by lAPESGW of the ‘Accept and Respect’, declaration, which includes the following statement: “The declaration supports Islam as an enabling religion that endorses women’s participation in physical activity: We recommend that people working in the sport and education systems accept and respect the diverse ways in which Muslim women and girls practise their religion and participate in sport and physical activity, for example choices of activity, dress and gender grouping.” However, it may be some time before this policy is widely accepted.
We should be most grateful to Gertrud Pfister for her well researched article and to the editors and publishers for giving space to this important issue.