The Taliban leadership was toppled just over a year later when the United States invaded in response to the September 11 terror attacks on New York City and other locations on the American mainland. After almost 20 years of insurgency, the hardline Islamist group returned to power in August 2021.

There followed an immediate crackdown on women's rights including access to sport. Several athletes fled the country in order to continue to pursue their athletic ambitions. Hashimi and sister Yulduz escaped to Italy with the help of former road race world champion Alessandra Cappellotto.

Fariba Hashimi went on to win the Afghan Women's Road Championships in October 2022, held in Aigle, Switzerland, with her sibling taking second.

Despite all of this, Afghanistan promised to send female athletes to last year's Asian Games as well as Paris 2024. Fifteen of Afghanistan's 83-strong team in Hangzhou were women with 12 in the volleyball team, plus two-time Olympic sprinter Kamia Yousufi and the Hashimi sisters.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had previously asked that the Taliban-controlled Government make "significant progress" to reverse restrictions to sport placed on women and young girls which "run contrary to the Olympic values of non-discrimination, inclusion and respect".

In March, a statement released by the IOC Executive Board confirmed "the objective of having a gender-balanced Afghan team at the Olympic Games Paris 2024."

It continued, "The IOC has been in continuous dialogue with the Afghan NOC and the Afghan sports authorities with the aim of reversing the current restrictions on access to sport for women and girls in Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghan athletes, in particular female athletes, have been regularly benefiting from IOC/Olympic Solidarity support to represent their country in international sports competitions, including the Olympic Games.

"Everything is being done, with the Afghan NOC and the International Federations concerned, to ensure that the Afghan NOC can send a mixed-gender team to the Olympic Games Paris 2024."

Four years after the Sydney 2000 ban, judoka Friba Rezayee became the country's first female Olympian along with sprinter Masoud Azizi.

Last month, Rezayee said the country should be banned from Paris 2024 due to the Taliban's mistreatment of women. She also suggested that Afghan women should go to the Games as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team (ORT), following in the footsteps of cyclist Masomah Ali Zada at Tokyo 2020.

One potential obstacle to Rezayee's idea is that athletes can currently only eligible to compete for the ORT if their refugee status is confirmed by the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Yousufi, also known as Kimia Yousofi, who was one of Afghanistan's flagbearers at Tokyo 2020, fled to Iran weeks later when the Taliban retook power. She moved to Australia in August 2022, thanks to campaigning by the Australian Olympic Committee, and is hoping to compete at a third Olympics.