An Ohio high school track runner was disqualified for wearing her hijab during a race.

Cross country athlete Noor Abukaram ran while wearing a hijab for three years. On Saturday, the 16-year-old finished a race in Findlay, Ohio, at 22 minutes and 22 seconds, her fastest run ever. Unfortunately, the time won't count because she was disqualified.

At the beginning of the race, officials checked each athlete's attire, and when Abukaram saw them talking with each other, she got worried.

"In the back of my mind, I was like, 'Are they going to say something about my hijab? Or about my uniform because it is different?'” she recalled to WTOL.

Instead, another girl was ordered to change her shorts, and the race proceeded after the runner returned. Abukaram didn’t find out about the issue with her hijab until after the race when her name didn’t appear on the scoring board.

"My heart dropped. I felt like something horrible happened to me, something that I always thought could happen, but never has happened," she said. "I think I was mostly embarrassed, because like I never expected that to happen."

Abukaram was disqualified because the Ohio High School Athletic Association requires a waiver from students who want to wear a head covering for religious reasons. Abukaram and her family said they didn't know about the requirement, according to The Toledo Blade.

"I've been a student-athlete for as long as I can remember and wearing hijabs since 2016 … which is why I was so appalled when there was an issue," Abukaram said. "It's never happened to me before, and I certainly didn't expect it to happen to me at cross country."

Her coach, Jerry Flowers, knew about the rule, but he did not say anything to Abukaram.

"He respected her religious beliefs and knew that she wasn't going to take [the hajib] off," Northview Athletic Director Chris Irwin explained. "He wanted her to compete even though he knew her score wouldn't count."

The junior doesn't blame her coach and considers him part of her support system.

"I couldn't ask for a better support system. My coach is completely on my side and my teammates are so supportive," she said.

The incident received attention after activist Zobaida S. Falah, Abukaram’s cousin, wrote a Facebook post about it.

OHSAA stood by its decision in a statement to The Blade.

"Cross country runners may participate in competitions with religious headwear, provided the runner has obtained a waiver from the OHSAA and submitted 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," said OHSAA Director of Communications Tim Stried.

The organization is considering scrapping the policy to prevent future conflict.

"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," Stried added.

Abukaram turned in her waiver, but she wants to ensure another Muslim doesn't have to deal with the same problem.

"It's a part of me. I'm not going to take it off so I can run! I just don't want this to happen to anyone else, like any girls, girls younger than me that are wearing hijab," she said. "I don't want them to ever have to worry or to have to write a letter so that they can go run."

Yolanda Melendez, Abukaram's mother, said the family is seeking legal counsel and will send a letter to OHSAA.

"We ultimately want a dialogue," Melendez said. "To speak out not just on Noor's behalf, but on future athletes."

Noor-Abukaram

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