Robina Muqim Yaar came in second to last in the 100m heats with a time of 14.14 seconds, more than three seconds slower than the fastest finish of the day.

It was also a personal best and a national record for her native Afghanistan, and so it was with great pride that the eighteen-year-old wearing a t-shirt in a meet filled with skin tight suits raised her arms triumphantly as she crossed the finish line.

She had just run the first ever Olympic 100m by an Afghan woman.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, women were banned from competitive sports and Afghanistan was banned from the Olympics.

With the fall of the fundamentalist regime a few years ago athletic opportunities blossomed and the IOC reinstated the nation last year on the condition that women be part of the Athens delegation.

Muqim Yaar heard she might be able to come to the Olympics and submitted her application immediately. She started training for the Games in March 2004, just five months ago, although she lacked proper running shoes and trained on a dilapidated track while working part-time at her mother's beauty salon.

The IOC made five wild card entries available to her country and Muqim Yaar was invited despite times that were slow by international standards. Adidas donated running shoes.

And just five months after learning that an Olympic dream was possible in Afghanistan, Muqim Yaar's needed 14 seconds to sprint into the history books.

But the fastest woman in the short life of Afghan women's track was not content to be a mere historical curiosity. She came to compete and she knows exactly how she did, beating Fartun Omar Abukar of Somalia by .15 of a second.

"At least I was ahead of one person," Muqim Yaar told the Associated Press. "I think I did pretty well. I will never ever forget this moment in my life."

She hopes to do better in 2008.