‘HUMILIATED’

Muslim High-School Student Athlete Disqualified From Ohio Race for Wearing Hijab

“I felt like a clown,” she said. “I am running this race and I have been disqualified and everyone knows it except for me.”

A 16-year-old student athlete in Ohio was disqualified from a high school cross-country race because she did not have a signed waiver giving her permission to run in a hijab. Noor Alexandria Abukaram said that she had never been forced to get permission to wear her head scarf in any sport competition before last weekend, which was her seventh cross-country race of the season. The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s decision to disqualify Abukaram—the Nike sports hijab is reportedly considered a uniform violation—was swiftly met with outrage online. “It was like a nightmare came true,” said Abukaram. “We just found out we were going to make regionals and we were ecstatic, my whole team, so we went over to check our placing in the race.” Only, her name wasn’t on the list. Her teammates learned about the decision while Abukaram was still running, she told The New York Times. “I was totally humiliated,” she said. “I felt like a clown. I am running this race and I have been disqualified and everyone knows it except for me.” Abukaram said she wears the same hijab that Ibtihaj Muhammad, a member of the United States fencing team, wore when she won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. “It is very official,” she said.