A 16-year-old Ohio high school runner was disqualified Saturday by athletic officials after a cross-country 5K because she wore a hijab during the meet.
Noor Abukaram said her 22:22 time at the Sylvania Northview High School race got scrubbed from the books even though she has competed in the past while wearing a hijab without any issues.
“I’ve been a student-athlete for as long as I can remember and wearing hijabs since 2016,” Noor told the Toledo Blade. “Which is why I was so appalled when there was an issue. It’s never happened to me before, and I certainly didn’t expect it to happen to me at cross country.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association said in a statement that Noor was disqualified because she had not obtained a waiver to participate while wearing religious headwear. But the athletic governing body added that it is “looking at this specific uniform regulation to potentially modify it in the future, so that religious headwear does not require a waiver.”
“After the race, the OHSAA communicated with the school, which then submitted a waiver request,” the OHSAA said in the emailed statement. “The request was approved immediately, which will permit the student-athlete to compete this weekend at regional competition.”
The disqualification gained widespread attention when Noor’s cousin, Zobaida Falah, posted on Facebook about the incident. She said in the post that the officials did “not give (Noor) the courtesy of informing her of their problem with the hijab,” before the competition. The post had been shared more than 2,000 times as of Thursday afternoon.
Hijabs are not specifically prohibited in the athletic association’s rule manual, although it states that any “competitor who requires an exception to the uniform rules because of religious restrictions or otherwise, must submit a request for a variance.”
Noor told NBC affiliate WNWO that she hopes the rules will be changed so she doesn’t have to apply for a waiver in the future.
“I mean, I understand uniform,” Noor told the station. “But anything that is part of their religion and a part of who they are, they shouldn’t have to stop another thing that they love.”
