Shazia Hidayat

Shazia Hidayat ran the 1,500 metres for Pakistan at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was one of her easier runs. In Pakistan she was often persecuted as a Muslim woman trying to run in public. She endured intimidation, death threats, and frequent violence while running. She found she could not run during the day as extremists would often throw stones at her, so she trained at night or at the national stadium. Hidayat ran the Lahore Marathon in 2005, along with several other women, but they were harassed and had stones thrown at them throughout the race.

In 2008 Hidayat ran a marathon in Toronto and stayed in Canada, applying for refugee status, and eventually settling in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She became a Canadian citizen in 2015 and brought several of her relatives to Saskatoon, helping them escape from refugee camps. Hidayat worked a number of different jobs in Saskatoon, notably in the food services department at the University of Saskatchewan.

Personal Best: 1500 – 4:58.79 (2005).