Beatings from her mother and jeers from her neighbours never stopped Noura from practising the sports she loved. Then the Taliban came.
The Taliban require women to cover their hair and faces in public, and prohibit them from going to parks or gyms.
Even before the Taliban, women's sports were opposed by many in Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, seen as a violation of women's modesty and of their role in society. Word spread through the audience and participants that the advancing Taliban were on the city's outskirts. All the women and girls fled the hall. It was the last competition the young athlete ever played in.Months later, she said she tried to give private lessons for girls, but Taliban fighters raided the gym where they were practising and arrested them all.
"All over the world, when a girl becomes famous and her picture is shown on TV, it's a good day for her and she's at the peak of happiness," she said.Afghan girls who practise wushu, a Chinese martial art, pose for a photo in Kabul.
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