Pakistani Olympian Najma Parveen entered the Tokyo Olympics as the country’s best female sprinter, but bowed out in less than half a minute, reported Geo
Najma, 31, ran in heat 2 of the Women’s 200m and finished 7, the last place. The Pakistani athlete’s timing was not her position, but her timing which was recorded at 28.12 seconds.
The top Pakistani athlete, who holds the national record of Women’s 200m at 23.69 seconds, was 2.88 seconds behind the athlete who finished at number 6 in the Tokyo Olympics.
It is worth mentioning that Najma’s Olympic journey was almost halted when her entry was withdrawn by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP), without consent. However, the Pakistan Olympic Federation managed to re-enter her in the Tokyo Olympics.
The POA had also slammed the Athletics Federation of Pakistan and had said that the AFP’s act was a blatant disregard and violation of the right of the athlete, enshrined in the Athletes’ Declaration and against all efforts to ensure participation of women in sports without discrimination.
It is worth mentioning that the Pakistan Olympic Association and Athletics Federation of Pakistan are at loggerheads with each other due to multiple reasons. The POA had suspended AFP’s membership after its athletes tested positive in the last South Asian Games in 2019.
