16-year-old cross-country runner disqualified – for wearing a hijab, Ohio schools say

Imagine setting a goal, working tirelessly to accomplish it and you reach that plateau -- only to have it snatched from you simply because your clothing didn’t align with societal standards.

Noor Alexandria Abukaram runs cross country in Ohio for Sylvania Northview High School. Last weekend, she competed in a race where she ran her personal best – “22 minutes and 22 seconds,” NBC News reported.

Initial issues arose that made Abukaram think something fishy was happening, according to a Facebook post by her cousin Zobaida S. Falah on Wednesday.

“Then something suspicious was happening between my coach and the officials. I thought ‘why are they still talking about the shorts issue if it was resolved?’ And again, the thought crossed my mind that maybe they were talking about me,” Abukaram is quoted in the post as saying. “My coach came over to the team and one of the officials looked at him and said, ‘don’t tell her now wait till after.’“

What the officials wanted her coach to wait to tell her was that she would be disqualified for running the race because she wore a hijab.

After completing the race, Abukaram noticed her name was not on the list, but her teammates’ names were, the Facebook post said. She walked back over to her team and said, “hey guys my name isn’t on the list,” according to the post. Staring blankly back at her, they told her “you got disqualified.”

When she asked why, a teammate responded, “because of your hijab,” according to the post.

In Ohio, “there is no written rule against wearing a religious head covering,” ABC 6 reported. However, officials said a waiver had to be signed before participating in competition.

“All these officials knew about this unwritten rule and I’ve been running and no one told me and I guess I just felt like a clown,” Abukaram told ABC 6.

A search for the rule regarding wearing a hijab and the waiver required could not be found on the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s website.

“The official was simply enforcing this rule since a waiver had not been submitted,” an association spokesperson told NBC News. “After the race, the OHSAA communicated with the school, which then submitted a waiver request. The request was approved immediately...”

Falah’s Facebook post has been shared close to 3,000 times as of Thursday evening.In the post, Falah said would like to see the rules changed, especially since an American athlete participated in the Olympics while wearing a hijab, the post said.

“It’s 2019, we’ve had a hijab wearing women represent America in the Olympics,” Falah said.

New Jersey native Ibtihaj Muhammad “became the first Muslim woman to represent the United States at the Olympics wearing a hijab” in 2016, The New York Times reported. Muhammad competed in fencing.

“My hijab is a part of me. Like if you’re asking me to run without my hijab, you’re asking me not to run,” Abukaram told ABC 6. “That’s period. Point-blank.”