There is a bit of “Rasta Rockett” in his story.
As in this Disney studios film from 1993, which tells the adventures of young Jamaicans dreaming of participating in the Winter Olympics in 1988, Masomah Ali Zada looks like a real heroine.
If the Jamaicans took up this challenge in bobsleigh, the 23-year-old rode her bike.
An innocuous act in France and in many countries, but not in his, Afghanistan.
Since 1996 and the arrival of the Taliban in this Asian state wedged between Iran and Pakistan, women can no longer do it.
This daring completely turned the fate of this student upside down.
Refugee in France in 2017, Masomah Ali Zada has taken a new step in her incredible destiny.
Today, she is part of a pre-selection of 50 athletes established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
This is the very first time that a refugee residing in France has thus been recognized as a “refugee athlete”.
Created in 2016, this program enabled 10 athletes to participate in the Rio Olympics five years ago under the banner of the Olympic refugee team.
For the next Tokyo Games in 2021, this figure is expected to increase to approach 30.
"It would be a nice message for her to be present at the Tokyo Olympics"
“Sportingly, Masomah has no chance of going to the Olympics, assures Thierry, his trainer.
On the other hand, symbolically, it has all its chances.
"David Lappartient, the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), agrees:" We are going to push his candidacy to the IOC.
Masomah is a beautiful symbol who was able to advance the cause of cycling in Afghanistan.
I think it would be a nice message for her to be present at the Tokyo Olympics.
"
With his father, Thierry Communal, his trainer, helped Masomah Ali Zada and his family to settle in France.
LP / Guillaume Georges
Thierry Communal (51 years old) was put on the path to Afghanistan in 2016. With his father Patrick, a former lawyer at the Orléans Bar (author of "The Little Queen of Kabul" with Masomah Ali Zada, published in June 2018 at Éditions de l'Atelier), he watches a report on Arte which evokes the daily life of the Afghan women's cycling team.
In front of his TV, Patrick and his son take a slap when they discover Masomah and his friends defy the ban with the support of their trainer, Sadiq Sadiqi.
She discovers cycling in Iran
“After the report, we contacted her on social networks,” explains Thierry.
We invited her to a race in France in Albi.
This is the start of a long friendship.
During this stay in France, Masomah recounts his daily life in Afghanistan.
And his fears: “My parents supported me in my desire to cycle.
But not the rest of the community.
An uncle came to see my father to force me to marry.
My father refused.
But the pressure is growing stronger.
People thought that when I got married, I would give up cycling.
"
The daughter of a father whose brother is a political activist against the Taliban, Masomah experienced exile in Iran in 1998. During this stay of nearly nine years, she discovered cycling there.
“My father encouraged me and my sisters to practice physical activity,” she explains in impeccable French.
I started with sports like taekwondo and then I started cycling.
With the bike, I didn't need wings to fly… ”
In 2006, the Ali Zada family returned to Afghanistan to allow the children to continue their studies.
From his visit to Iran, Masomah brings back his passion for cycling.
Masomah Ali Zada, here in his university room, wishes to become an engineer in civil engineering.
LP / Guillaume Georges
A practitioner, Masomah began to wear the veil at the age of 7.
During these training sessions, she wears it under her helmet.
“When Papy (the affectionate nickname she gave to Patrick Communal) told me about coming to France as a refugee, I imposed two conditions on him.
The first: I will never leave Afghanistan without my family.
The second: that I can wear the veil.
With us, we think that the French prevent women from wearing it.
He reassured me on both points.
"
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Until recently, Masomah met people who questioned him about his veil.
“I was shopping.
Someone told me that I shouldn't wear it, because it was a mark of submission to the man.
I told him that I was not submissive to anyone and that wearing a veil was my own will.
For me, tolerance is to accept the other as he is with his culture.
"
"I don't know if I'll go to the Olympics, but I know I'll graduate"
On his bike, Masomah discovers the hilly Breton roads against the roundabout of a road under construction on the outskirts of Kabul.
“In Afghanistan, I won a lot of races.
I was one of the best on my team.
In Brittany, I felt like I had become zero.
»In Guéhenno, a town of 800 souls, a real outpouring of solidarity is taking place.
“Former retired teachers came to give them French lessons,” recalls Thierry.
Others came to see their mother to teach them French cuisine.
"
Little by little, Masomah finds his marks.
Professor at the University of Lille, Thierry encourages him to resume his studies.
In September 2017, she left Brittany for the North.
Masomah wishes to become a civil engineer.
“When I was in Kabul, I was a sports teacher.
During the report, I was seen teaching young girls to ride a bicycle.
After it aired, I was prohibited from continuing to do so.
This disappointed me enormously.
This is why in France, I wanted to change course.
“Currently in the second year of the license, Masomah wants to go to the master.
“I don't know if I'll go to the Olympics.
However, I know that I will graduate.
It just depends on my job.
"
“When I was cycling in the streets of Kabul, I was insulted, threatened, molested.
From now on, I receive messages of encouragement from Afghanistan, ”says Masomah Ali Zada.
LP / Guillaume Georges
The first refugee in France will know between April and June 2021 if her Olympic dream becomes a reality.
“It would be the icing on the cake, recognizes Thierry.
But to tell the truth, Masomah has already won everything.
She is a student, she helped her family to live in freedom.
She is an extremely courageous woman.
I predict a future that will go beyond cycling.
Maybe in politics… ”
A symbol of pride in Afghanistan
When Masomah looks at the road traveled, she exudes an overwhelming humility.
“It was not the first time that I was doing a report with journalists.
We received Americans, Italians… In my mind, the Arte report was just one more among many.
Finally, he changed my life.
And when I look at him now, I wonder who this brave and daring woman is.
Today, I will be unable to do the same!
"
The little queen of Kabul has become a symbol of pride in her country, Afghanistan.
By getting on her bike, she managed to move the lines.
“It's quite strange how people's outlook has changed.
When I rode my bicycle in the streets of Kabul, I was insulted, threatened, molested.
From now on, I receive messages of encouragement from Afghanistan.
If I have been able to advance the cause of women in my country, all these efforts will not have been in vain.
"