Manizha Talash

Manizha Talash, known competitively as B-Girl Talash, is an Afghan breakdancer, born in Kabul on 22 December 2002. ^{1 2} She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team. ^{1 3}

Talash discovered breakdancing at seventeen through a Facebook video, contacted the dancer in the video, and joined a Kabul club, Superiors Crew, where she was the only girl among 56 members. ¹ Media described her as Afghanistan's first female breakdancer. She continued despite opposition from her family and death threats; her club was targeted by bombings three times, two of which went off and caused deaths, before the club was ordered to close. ¹

After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, Talash crossed into Pakistan with her younger brother, lived there for a year, and then moved to Spain as a refugee with her brother and six other club members. ¹ Selected for the Refugee Olympic Team, she competed in the Olympic debut of breakdancing at Paris 2024. In the pre-qualifier round she wore a cape bearing the words "Free Afghan Women"; she lost the round 0–3 to India's Sardjoe of the Netherlands, and the result was then changed to a disqualification for displaying a political slogan, under Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter. ¹ Talash said her message was about human rights, freedom and gender equality rather than politics, and stated that she intended to challenge the disqualification, first through the World DanceSport Federation and potentially at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. ¹

Talash learned Spanish after moving to Madrid in 2022; her mother moved to Spain in 2024 to rejoin her and her brother. She has produced a streetwear fashion line inspired by traditional Afghan designs. ¹

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