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Triathlete Shirin Gerami\u2019s persistence in pushing Iran to allow her, as a woman, to compete led to a win that transcends sport. Her journey is\u00a0the latest in our Huck x HOKA series, looking at mavericks who found a new perspective through running.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The night before racing in a triathlon most people keep things fairly relaxed. They\u2019ll pack their bags, perhaps eat a giant plate of pasta, piled up high like a pyramid, and have an early night. But before her first World Championships Shirin Gerami was doing none of those things.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, she was rushing around trying to get government permission just to compete in the event. To represent Iran, she needed the okay from the Ministry of Sports there and for the past six months the answer had been a consistent and resounding \u201cNo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Then suddenly, hours before the race, she got an email confirming she was allowed to compete and Shirin Gerami became the first-ever woman to represent Iran in a world triathlon competition. A mould-breaking moment.<\/span><\/p>\n Her journey to that point was as improbable as it is inspiring. Starting with the fact she had zero interest in sport as a child, which isn\u2019t surprising because in Iran, where she was born and lived from the ages of 10 to 15, girls aren\u2019t encouraged to play sport. \u201cIn the schools I went to, phys-ed was quite weak,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was never a seriously sporty session. It was more girls sitting around a courtyard reading books.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She did however love nature and hiking. \u201cI was around 13 when my mum\u2019s cousin, who always loved hiking and the outdoors, told me I should go hiking with her in the [Alborz] mountains, which Tehran [where she lived] is at the foot of. She seemed to know every single person there and she introduced me and said, \u2018If you ever see her, take care of her.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After that, Shirin would go hiking in the mountains before school most days, leaving at 4 or 5 a.m. in her school uniform. \u201cI\u2019d come down smelly and sweaty and go to school,\u201d she laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n When she was 18, she and two friends spontaneously took a hiking trip from Tehran to the Caspian Sea. They were having an amazing time until the fifth night when they got attacked in their tent by a group of men with \u201clarge daggers and knives fit to cut off the carcass of sheep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The experience was transformative for Shirin, causing her to be diagnosed with a mental illness, but also helping her realise that sport was her way back. \u201cAnytime I\u2019ve gone through a down or hard times,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s always been sports and the outdoors that helped me come back up again from the depths of downness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She went to university at Durham in England, and in her final year found the courage to try triathlon. \u201cI didn\u2019t consider myself sporty in anyway. Triathlon seemed totally impossible and out of my reach but I like an adventure\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Still, she was completely intimidated at the start. \u201cI was the last person in the slowest lane in the pool, I had to walk my bike up the hill and I was the one who was getting lapped on the track,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n But she kept going and made progress. The thought of racing terrified Shirin but she\u2019d made good friends in the sport and they persuaded her to try. At each stage of her first race, she expected to be stopped for going too slowly. But she never was.<\/span><\/p>\n Was she euphoric at the finish line? \u201cIt was more the realisation that we underestimate ourselves daily. We don\u2019t show up to the start line; we give up before having even tried.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She moved to London for work and joined a triathlon club \u201cfor the fun and love of it.\u201d Then ahead of the ITU World Championships, which in 2013 were taking place in London, she was chatting with some triathlon friends about the various nationalities that would be represented in the race. \u201cWe all laughed and joked and said, \u2018Iran, haha well that\u2019s not going to be possible.\u2019 But that night I thought, \u2018Hang on. You dismissed something, without actually exploring it.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The next morning she called up the triathlon federation in Iran and asked why exactly women couldn\u2019t race. After many questions, the first tangible thing she found was it had to do with clothing and Iran\u2019s non-negotiable stance on women covering up. Shirin thought this would be a simple thing to solve, but it took her six months of sourcing various outfits, and pictures and emails and flights to Iran before the Ministry of Sports delivered that magical \u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Race day was the first time she\u2019d worn her sanctioned outfit, which included a hijab. The kit was not the easiest thing to compete in, but in that first race, Shirin wasn\u2019t worrying about that. \u201cThe relief of getting the permission was beyond anything, I wasn\u2019t thinking, \u2018Oh it feels a little heavy.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Four years on from that ground-breaking race, she has many more triathlons under her belt including the iconic Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, which she did last year. Thirteen hours of hardcore exercise over 140.6 miles, all in a hijab, covered to her wrists and toes.<\/span><\/p>\n She still feels there\u2019s room for improvement in terms of kit that women can compete in fairly and safely while adhering to strict Islamic codes. \u201cSome people find arts therapy, some people find sports therapy\u2026 I dream of a world where everyone could access sports \u2014 should they want to. And if clothing really is the area that is stopping you from accessing sport, then I think that\u2019s something that needs to be looked at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But Shirin\u2019s legacy is already in full effect. She\u2019s inspired women all over the world, and in 2017, Iran sent a team of female triathletes to the Central Asian Championships for the first time, which was \u201cvery uplifting\u201d for her. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI hope these opportunities will continue growing,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the UK, I rock up to whatever club I want to join and start training. It\u2019s as a simple as that. Whereas if I\u2019d been a girl living in Iran, I would not for one second have known what a triathlon was. And I\u2019d have missed out on the confidence, empowerment and joy it\u2019s brought to my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Huck is a youth culture channel. It celebrates and explores independent culture \u2014 people and movements that paddle against the flow.\u00a0Find out more about\u00a0HUCK<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nBreaking the mould<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nStarting\u00a0out\u00a0in triathlon<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nMaking the grade<\/h3>\n
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