A Run to The Future

ROBERT NICKELSBERG/GETTY for TIME

RUNNING MATES: Sprinters Azizi, left, and Muqimyar warm up in Kabul's National Stadium

Fifteen seconds." the 17-year-old sprinter laughs self-mockingly as she reveals her time for the 100 m at last week's South Asian Federation Games in Islamabad. She has reason to be embarrassed: her time was more than three seconds slower than the winning Sri Lankan's 11.81. "I don't think that's so good for the Olympics, is it?" She giggles some more, and her head scarf slips down, exposing thick auburn waves. Despite the fact that she is in a restaurant full of men, she leaves it there, too caught up in her own joke to notice. For Robina Muqimyar, Afghanistan's first woman...

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