USA: MOTOCROSS - Reigning women's motorcross and X-games champ, Ashley Fiolek rides with Iranian champ Noora Moghaddas at Southwick
Record ID:
789029
USA: MOTOCROSS - Reigning women's motorcross and X-games champ, Ashley Fiolek rides with Iranian champ Noora Moghaddas at Southwick
- Title: USA: MOTOCROSS - Reigning women's motorcross and X-games champ, Ashley Fiolek rides with Iranian champ Noora Moghaddas at Southwick
- Date: 3rd September 2010
- Summary: ST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 1, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOORA MOGHADDAS SAYING: "I never traveled so far from Iran, yeah. But when you do hard things, you get stronger and you can move faster for the future." RONNIE FIOLEK (ASHLEY'S MOTHER), ASHLEY, AND NOORA MOGHADDAS AT FIOLEK'S HOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASHLEY FIOLEK SIGNING [THROUGH MOTHER'S TRANSLATION] "Oh yeah, for sure we're going to stay in touch. She's my good friend now. She's so funny. You know, I'm funny. Neither of us are serious. We have so much in common; we laugh all day long together. We're definitely going to stay in touch through the internet or some other way. Hopefully maybe, I can visit -- maybe I can jump in her bag and fly to Iran with her! Hopefully someday, I'll fly over there, or she will come back. I race over in Europe sometimes, so I'd be kinda, sorta, over that way, but we'll definitely keep in tough and we'll definitely see each other again, I'm sure of it."
- Embargoed: 18th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA9HD2NY8MXBP03T0Q0FT6DPC90
- Story Text: When Noora Moghaddas reached out to her role model by email a year ago, little did she think that her dream of riding with motocross champ Ashley Fiolek would come true.
But for Moghaddas challenges are things to be brushed aside. Just riding her motorcycle can be considered a triumph for the 20-year old. In her home country of Iran, women are not even allowed to ride motorcycles or scooters on the road, yet for Noora, the thought has never occurred to her not to ride. Born into a family of motocross racers, Moghaddas' father was Iranian national champion. Her brother and husband both ride. And when she won last year's lone female motocross race (involving all eight female racers in the country), she narrowly bested the second place rider -- her own mother.
So when the Iranian women's champ reached out to the defending women's champ in the U.S. and two-time X-Games winner Fiolek, Noora figured on getting some response -- but not a full invitation to race with Ashley.
After a wait for a visa, Moghaddas arrived last week in Florida to meet Fiolek at her home in St Augustine.
"I was just excited when she showed up here to America. I know it was a big deal for her, and I just wanted her to have fun. I wanted her to just ride, experience what we do here, and there's a lot of girls here riding. I wanted her to see that and be part of that, you know?" said Fiolek.
"I wanted her to have a challenge here, and ride Southwick, and just have a good time and experience new tracks. And I think that worked for her. I'd like her to come back again some time, and I hope she had fun," the 19-year old said.
Fiolek, who races for Honda Red Bull, and Moghaddas practiced on Ashley's home track in Florida before the pair traveled together up to Massachusetts for the sixth round of the either race Women's Motocross season in the U.S., where Fiolek is currently in second place.
Moghaddas and Fiolek rode the famous Moto-X 338 together before the race. But though dreams do come true, they're not always perfect. Noora rolled on one trip around the track, and Ashley, fighting off a cold, was not at her best.
But then for Fiolek, overcoming obstacles is nothing new. Racing in a male-dominated sport, Ashley faces barriers at every turn.
"I have a lot of dreams, you know. I'm still pretty young. I'd like to keep accomplishing things in my sport. I'd like to keep improving things for women in sport. You know, I think it needs to grow -- it's small here too for women. You know, it's a "man's" sport that women are trying to break into," said Ashley, who was born deaf, but has never let that affect her racing.
Noora, too, has challenges ahead. At home in Iran, where there are few tracks open too her, and few riders to compete with, she wants to grow her sport. But she will take home the lessons she learned on the course in the U.S.
"Here riders always just let [throttle] open wide, yeah. That's the big and most important thing in motocross here, I think. And it's a little hard for me because, I'm afraid of big jumps. But I learned too many things, too many other things: you have to have belief and never give up -- that's Ashley's sentence," she said.
"I never traveled so far from Iran, yeah. But when you do hard things, you get stronger and you can move faster for the future," she added.
The pair or riders, who seem like sisters separated at birth and raised on different continents, will stay in touch after Noora heads home later this week.
"For sure we're going to stay in touch. She's my good friend now. She's so funny. You know, I'm funny. Neither of us are serious. We have so much in common; we laugh all day long together. We're definitely going to stay in touch through the internet or some other way. Hopefully maybe, I can visit -- maybe I can jump in her bag and fly to Iran with her!" suggested Fiolek.
"Hopefully someday, I'll fly over there, or she will come back. I race over in Europe sometimes, so I'd be kinda, sorta, over that way, but we'll definitely keep in tough and we'll definitely see each other again, I'm sure of it." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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