India, Sept. 29 -- When Fariba Hashimi's father first caught her trying to ride a bicycle, his immediate fear was not that she might fall. He feared what might happen if people in their conservative Afghan society discovered what his daughter was doing.

He eventually chose her dream over that fear.

Last week, five years after leaving Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power, Hashimi became the first Afghan woman to win a medal in an Asian Games cycling event, claiming silver in the women's road race in Aichi-Nagoya.

The 23-year-old, now based in Italy, completed the race in 2 hours and 50 minutes. But the medal around her neck carried memories of much more than a race - stones and bottles thrown at her, men's clothes worn to...