Elnaz Rekabi is a competitive climber. I am as clueless about that sport as anyone, but I know that it would be far better for the climber if they weren’t encumbered by a headscarf — something female Iranian climbers must wear in order to compete.
Rekabi is serious about her sport and by all accounts is a fierce competitor. So when she was competing at the Asian Championships in South Korea, her beautiful brown hair was exposed for all to see — much to the chagrin of Iranian authorities.
Why no hijab? Well, it depends on who you ask. Miss Rekabi has given three different explanations for what happened to the hijab. The Iranian authorities have given another.
And the crowd of Iranians who showed up at the airport upon her arrival had their own take: that the climb without a hijab was a statement in support of their protests. Even if true, Rekabi dares not admit it. That would be a crime and would result in her swift arrest and incarceration.
So Rebaki played cat and mouse with the Iranian authorities much to the delight of her countrymen. She disappeared for 48 hours — a turn of events that worried her friends and family. But the International Olympic Committee and the governing bodies of her sport were able to interview her, and the Iranian authorities allowed her to come home — no doubt with a warning to keep her mouth shut.
In comments to state TV upon her arrival in Tehran, Rekabi said she had returned in “full health” and apologised to “the people of Iran for the turbulence and worry that I created”, her head covered by a baseball cap and a hood as she spoke.
“The struggle that I had with wearing my shoes and preparing my gear made me forget about the proper hijab that I should have had, and I went to the wall and ascended,” she added.
Of course, you did, dearie. And we shouldn’t read anything into the fact that you’re still not wearing a hijab, right?
In a statement published on her Instagram account on Tuesday, Rekabi cited poor scheduling as the reason she had competed without a headscarf, saying she had been called to climb unexpectedly.
So that’s it! “Poor scheduling” resulted in being forced to climb “unexpectedly.” I would have loved to have seen her face when she was posting that.
The BBC reports that she also claimed that the headscarf fell off “accidentally.”
Before dawn on Wednesday morning, she flew into Tehran, where large crowds had gathered to greet her.
Videos on social media show many of them clapping and chanted “Elnaz is a heroine” as she arrived. Where the athlete is heading now is unknown.
The post that appeared on Instagram on Tuesday apologised for “getting everybody worried”.
No doubt Rekabi was terrified at the prospect of being in the clutches of the morality police. But that didn’t stop her from playing a clever game of cat and mouse, trying to avoid sanction by authorities for her actions by changing her story three times.
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