NEWS FEATURE: Afghan, Brunei women send strong Olympic signal By John Bagratuni, dpa

London (dpa) - Tahmiha Kohistani felt safe in the British cradle of modern sport, far away from the ordeals of being a woman athlete in her home country of Afghanistan.

The first ever woman to represent Brunei at the Olympics, Maziah Mahusin, was even more talkative than Kohistani as they enthused about their athletics experience on Friday.

They ran personal bests in front of a sellout 82,000 crowd and expressed hope that their heroics will give women‘s sport a major boost in their countries.

London‘s Games are the first to which all 205 teams have sent women - with Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar erasing the final white spots much to the liking of the International Olympic Committee whose president Jacques Rogge named their presence "an encouraging evolution."

Mahusin is Brunei‘s only woman at the Games and already had the honour of carrying the nation‘s flag into the stadium at the opening ceremony.

She returned on Friday to run the 400 metres below one minute for the first time in her life, setting a national record od 59.28. She was absolutely ecstatic afterwards as the words just wouldn‘t stop pouring out of her mouth.

"Its a national record, I am really happy. Although I didn‘t go further I am really happy. I was really nervous, wanted to do well," the 19-year-old told reporters.

"It is such an honour. I want to inspire other women. Maybe I will care about medals the next time. I will keep on training."

Brunei is not as strictly conservative as other Muslim countries, which shows in various areas such as allowing Mahusin to train with men.

"It is accepted in Brunei. Brunei is different, not the same as other countries," she said, adding that she wants to be a coach one day.

Mahusin was also wearing a shiny yellow sleeveless top to her long tights and no headscarf, which stood in sharp contrast to athletes from orthodox Muslim countries.

Yemen‘s Fatima Sulaiman Dahman and Shinoona Salah of Oman ran their 100m heats in black long-sleeved outfits and with the traditional hijab, just as Qatar‘s Noor Hussain Al-Malki, whose heat came to an early end when she pulled up and collapsed onto the track with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and was taken for medical examinations in a wheelchair.

Kohistani was also clad according to strict Muslim Sharia laws as she ran a personal best 14.42 seconds, but her light blue shirt added some colour to her appearance.

"I am grateful to be the only female athlete competing for my country. It is a dream come true ... From the beginning I did not think about winning a gold, being here is important; right now I have my gold medal," Kohistani said.

The 23-year-old is not the first woman representing Afghanistan at the Games, but the only one in London and happy to run and train far away from her war-torn country where women‘s sport faces almost insurmountable obstacles in an strictly orthodox Muslim society.

"It was very difficult to come here. Lots of people say it is wrong and I should leave this," she told reporters in English. "Here I am happy, the training is very good and no one says something bad."

Kohistani plans to continue running after her Olympic adventure and hopes to return for the Rio 2016 Games, with other women in tow.

"I will do my best to be in Brazil and one of my biggest wishes is that I am not the only woman," Kohistani said. dpa bag mis