Thu, Dec 24, 2009 page18

• Iranian female motocrosser faces uphill ride

  • AFP
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  Nora Naraghi is barred because of her sex from taking a motorcyle out on Iran’s roads, yet she has defied not only discrimination but the challenge of the sport to become a motocross champion.

  Born into a family of motorcycling enthusiasts, where motocross biking is a part of everyday life, Naraghi was prevented from obtaining a motorcycle license, so she hit the sandy trails instead.

  “I was born into it. I remember I was four when my dad, who is a motorcycle champion, used to sit me on a little Montesa and let me do circles over and over in front of his motorbike shop,” said Naraghi, who races in the MX2 category.

  

  A family photo shows Iranian Nora Naraghi, right, posing on the podium with her ­parents after winning the First Women Motocross Championship in Tehran on Oct. 30. Her mother, left, also took part in the race.

  PHOTO: AFP

  “I recall that one day he thought I was tired and wanted to get me off the bike but I would not let go of the accelerator!” the 20-year-old added, punching her fist in the air.

  “I feel no pressure in following the passion of my parents. My father was once Iran’s motocross champion, my mom rides, I ride, my younger brother rides and of course my husband rides motocross bikes, too,” she said.

  “To quench my thirst for excitement was easy, since the gear and motors were available and accessible to me. Also for me biking is like horse-back riding, which I pursue as a hobby,” she said.

  Although women are banned from driving motorcycles on the streets in Iran, scenes of women riding pillion on motorbikes are not unusual. But, unlike in Saudi Arabia, they are allowed to drive cars. Some even drive buses and long-haul trucks.

  Naraghi says the track at Azadi stadium, Tehran’s main sports complex, is off limits for women, and that this lack of available tracks is the main hurdle for women getting ahead in motocross.

  “We do not have a place to train like a permanent track, so we go to the hills in northwestern Tehran, which my father has set up with basic technical requirements,” she said.

  Sitting next to her, Naraghi’s ­husband Hadi Moghaddas said: “After marriage men usually kiss biking goodbye, but not I. I am now even more dedicated.”

  “I came to know Naraghi through her father, since my father sold motorbike parts,” Moghaddas said.

  “We used to quarrel on the race track, and when I fell, she would not stop and would only tell people at the finishing line that there was a casualty on the track!” he said.

  “We want our children to be bike riders, too,” said Moghaddas, with an approving look from Naraghi.

  Naraghi says her ambition extends beyond Iran’s borders. She wants to compete against US women in motocross.

  “I would really like to race outside Iran, and the Americans are the best in this sport. My role model is Ashley Foilek, [the US champion for the last two years]. I like her style and like me she is young. But I do not think that my racing with her will happen soon,” she said.

  At the end of October, Naraghi and eight other women including her mother Shahrzad Nazifi competed in Iran’s only motocross race in the MX2 category, set up by Xanyar motorbike club. She beat her mother, a stiff rival.

  “It was an exciting day for me, I won fair and square,” Naraghi said, looking at her mother sitting next to her.

  Naraghi’s mother, who is 38 years old and has biked for 22 years, said: “Of course she is younger and has more potential; she is also more technical than me and that is why she won.”

  Naraghi’s dream is to promote motocross among Iranian women looking to practice sports involving excitement and skill.

  “My mom and I, as pioneers of this sport in Iran, want to spread it as an exciting sport for all through the Xanyar club, where both of us are in charge of training women. I am currently training three other women. A lot of women do not know that this sport exists,” Naraghi said.
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