Posted on 10/24/2001 8:45:39 PM PDT by al-andalus
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
October 24, 2001, 10:21 PM EDT
TEHRAN, Iran -- The Third Muslim Women Games -- which draws female athletes from 27 countries -- opened Wednesday with a concert by a female singer. It marked the first time a woman performed here to an audience that included men since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Thousands of spectators, mostly women, filled the Tehran University stadium for the ceremony, singing and waving flags as five young Iranian athletes dressed in white-and-pink robes and black Islamic head scarves took a lap around the grounds in horse-drawn chariots.
One of the five signaled the start of the games when she lit the games' flame with a torch.
Women in sports is a sensitive issue in Iran, where conservative clerics oppose it. But moderates have succeeded in promoting women sports, gradually convincing some members of the conservative camp to soften their opposition.
"Promotion of women sports have removed one of the important obstacles in the way of Muslim women, especially young women. Still, we have some way to go," former president Hashemi Rafsanjani told the opening ceremony.
Wednesday's live concert at the ceremonies by singer Pari Zanganeh was a milestone. Previously, women singers were permitted to perform only for women-only audiences.
Organizers said the games, like the first two editions, were aimed at promoting the role of women while preserving their Islamic identity.
Since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, women have been required to wrap up in baggy smocks and head scarves in public in line with strict Islamic teachings. More traditional women cover themselves with chadors, or loose unsewn black sheets, to conform with Islamic dress.
Iran and several other Muslim nations refuse to send women to international sports events on the grounds that their women athletes would not discard their Islamic dress in order to compete.
While Wednesday's inauguration ceremony was open to both men and women, only women can attend most of the weeklong, closed-door competitions in which athletes can compete free of the Islamic dress code.
Male spectators can attend some events, such as chess and shooting, in which competitors keep their Islamic dress.
Part of the inaugural ceremony was devoted to the support of Afghan women who have been barred from many public activities under the ruling hard-line Taliban regime.
As an expression of solidarity with women in Afghanistan, the stadium lights were switched off for several minutes as some athletes dressed in black lit candles.
"We are here to say Afghan women are alive and want an active social life. We are here to denounce the uncivilized and anti-Islamic behavior of the Taliban against women in the name of Islam," said Nasrin Arbabzadeh, head of Afghan delegation.
The athletes come from Iran, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Syria, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Gabon, Guinea, Yemen, Qatar, Senegal, Iraq, United Kingdom, Uganda, Malaysia, Libya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Benin, Brunei, India, Bahrain and Congo. Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press .
How do they do the 50 meter butterfly with all those clothes on?
(backing away from the keyboard, going to sleep)
My favorite event as always been the 10 meter diving with full dress on. To see all those clothes flapping and twisting around the women as they descend into the water is a thing of pure beauty and grace. Of course, the judges always screw up because they can' tell the performers apart.
How many men are going to get caught wearing Burqas?
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