Madiea Ghafoor
Madiea Ghafoor in Moscow, 2013
Personal information
National teamNetherlands
Born (1992-09-09) 9 September 1992
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics

Madiea Ghafoor (born 9 September 1992) is a Dutch female former athlete who participated in sprinting and track and field.[1] She mainly competed in the women's 400m sprint, but has also participated in 60m, 100m, 200m and 300m events. She was part of the Netherlands squad at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2] She is currently (January 2020) detained in Germany, convicted to an 8.5 year jail term for smuggling 50 kilograms of drugs into the country.

Background

Ghafoor was born and raised in Amsterdam. Her interest in athletics began when she was at school aged 13. She trains at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam under the coaching of Urta Rozenstruik.[2]

Ghafoor is of Pakistani descent; her parents belong to the Lyari district in Karachi, Sindh, belonging to the dominantly Brahui population of the district.[2] Her grandfather, Lal Baksh Rind, was a senior politician from the brohi community.[2] She became the first female athlete of Rind origin to participate in the Olympic Games.[2]

Career

Ghafoor earned a bronze medal at the 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships in Estonia, coming third in the women's 400m sprint. She has also represented Netherlands in the European Athletics Indoor Championships, reaching up to the semi-finals.[2]

Arrest

On 18 June 2019, Ghafoor was arrested for drug possession during a routine border check near Elten. More than a month later it was reported that the German police had arrested her. In July she was charged with drug smuggling at Kleve district court since 50 kilograms of drugs (crystal meth and ecstasy) had been found in her car.[3][4] On 4 November, she was convicted by a German court in Kleve and sentenced to an 8-year 6-month jail term.[5] She did not appeal her sentence.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Madiea Ghafoor". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Pakistan-origin woman set to make history as first Baloch female Olympian". The Express Tribune. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Nederlandse atlete gepakt met 50 kilo drugs, AD, 24 juli 2019
  4. ↑ "Niederländische Sprinterin in Deutschland mit 50 Kilo Rauschgift erwischt". Spiegel Online. 25 July 2019.
  5. ↑ 8,5 jaar cel voor topatlete Madiea G., De Telegraaf, 4 November 2019
  6. ↑ Atlete Madiea G. niet in beroep tegen celstraf, NRC Handelsblad, 15 November 2019, accessed on 27 January 2020.
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