Friba Razayee was 9-years-old when she was forced to move from Afghanistan to Pakistan when the Taliban took control of the country. For the next eight years Razayee lived in Pakistan as a refugee, where she took part in boxing and martial arts. She eventually returned home to Afghanistan in 2002 where she initially competed as a boxer, but due to the lack of other female boxers in the country, she switched to judo. Through hard work and sponsorship from the Danish Refugee Council, Razayee eventually was selected to compete at the 2004 Athina Olympics, becoming the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Games. She competed in the middleweight class, where she lost to Cecilia Blanco (ESP) to be eliminated. Razayee later moved to Canada, where she studied political science at the University of British Columbia.
Afghanistan