Noor Alexandria Abukaram was elated when she crossed the finish line this past weekend at her cross-country team’s Ohio district meet. Her team secured a bid to regionals, and after spending most of the season on the JV squad, Abukaram earned a 5K PR of 22:22 on varsity.
But you won’t be able to find her results anywhere. Abukaram was disqualified from the race because she ran in her hijab. According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) rules, a waiver must be signed beforehand for runners to compete with religious headwear.
“Rules are meant to keep people safe and limit advantages. I shouldn’t have to let people know and bring a waiver to let people know I’m racing,” Abukaram, 16, told Runner’s World. “I am baffled by that.”
The junior, who attends a private school that doesn’t have athletics, competes for her district’s school, Sylvania Northview High School, in Sylvania, Ohio. She has competed in her hijab for over two years now in various sports, including track and field, and it had never been an issue before.
The district meet this Sunday was the first time the rule had ever been enforced for her. Uniform checks are standard at meets with OHSAA officials, and before the race, nobody told Abukaram her hijab would cause her to DQ.
Officials did inform her coach, Jerry Flowers, about an infraction by one of Abukaram’s teammates, who was wearing different shorts than her team—hers were black with a white stripe on them rather than solid black. She was asked to change.
Then, Flowers got an unexpected note from the official about Abukaram’s uniform.
“The officials asked me for my paperwork, and I had heard that you need a waiver to compete in the past, but [Noor] had been running all season without a problem,” Flowers told Runner’s World. “The OHSAA provided a statement to.”
After Abukaram had earned her way to the varsity start line, Flowers didn’t want to pull her from the race. He pleaded with officials, but they would not budge.
“I asked the officials if they could let it go because it wasn’t impeding anyone. It’s religious for [Noor], and she’s not going to take it off,” Flowers said. “The man was nice, but was insisting this would be her warning, and if she ran, she would be disqualified. So, I decided to let her run, and I would time her myself and would have to find her after the race to explain what happened.”
Abukaram ran and set a PR. When she went to check the results with her teammates, she noticed her name wasn’t listed.
Drew covers a variety of subjects for.
“I felt like I had gotten hit in the gut and felt nauseous like I was going to throw up,” Abukaram said. “I just walked away and immediately called my dad. I’m crying and crying and it was almost hard to tell him that I got disqualified.”
Running in the Cold Runner’s Wold Adidas Unveils Boston Marathon Jacket:
“Cross country runners may participate in competitions with religious headwear, provided the runner has obtained a waiver from the OHSAA and submitted it to the head official before the race, since it is a change to the OHSAA uniform regulations. The official was simply enforcing this rule since a waiver had not been submitted.”
Flowers eventually tracked down the distraught Abukaram to explain the situation. Flowers took responsibility for not having the form, and also explained the situation to her family.
“We went home and looked at the rules and there was no OHSAA ruling that explicitly prohibited hijabs,” Flowers said. “We’re all disappointed in the way it was handled, and I hope there’s a rule change out of this.”
Abukaram eventually took to social media through her cousin, a local activist, who posted Abukaram’s account on Facebook. The post drew attention quickly, and Abukaram’s community, team, family, and friends rallied around her this week.
Flowers also immediately applied for a waiver this week, which was granted. He will need to have the physical document on hand at the next race in order for Abukaram to compete.
USATF to Elect New President Amid Budget Deficit.
“This seems to be an odd holdover and should be gotten rid of,” he said. “I shouldn’t have to have a waiver on my at all times at a race to check my runner in at a meet. If it blows away or gets wet and disintegrates, can she not run? Every time someone asks for one of these waivers, they grant it, so why is it a rule? Why do I need one?”
Foot Locker XC Results.
With the support of everyone around her, she feels confident that she’ll race well again this weekend, and hopes this situation triggers a change in the OHSAA rules.
“This rule is completely excluding an entire people, all Muslim people, from competing in track and field and cross country,” she said. “Saying you can’t wear a hijab is saying you can’t run. My hijab is part of who I am. I’m sure that’s the same for all of the girls wearing a hijab, so I don’t think this should be a rule, and hopefully we can get a dialogue started to change it.”
However, the coach still feels this is an unnecessary step.
Since the incident, the Abukaram family said no one from OHSAA has reached out to them, though the organization did grant the waiver so that she can compete this weekend at regionals.
Running in the Cold Runner’s World, This was the first time it was ever brought to my attention in this manner.
“After the race, the OHSAA communicated with the school, which then submitted a waiver request. The request was approved immediately, which will permit the student-athlete to compete this weekend at regional competition. This emphasizes our continual requirement to also assist in educating our coaches on all sport rules. The OHSAA is also already looking at this specific uniform regulation to potentially modify it in the future, so that religious headwear does not require a waiver.”
Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand. His work has previously been published in Men’s Health.
