‘We send a powerful message’ – the trailblazing South Asian athletes

To mark South Asian Heritage Month, BBC Sport takes a look at four sports stars, from Britain and across the world, who are trailblazers for the region.

The month runs from 18 July to 17 August and this year’s theme is ‘free to be me’, which is fitting for athletes who break stereotypes and barriers in the world of sport.

Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood became the first British female cricket player to wear the hijab.

Born in Glasgow to Pakistani parents, the 25-year-old plays for Birmingham Phoenix, Sunrisers and Middlesex.

The leg-spinner also helped Scotland qualify for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which takes place in October.

Alongside Maqsood’s sporting accolades and being a flag bearer at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, she has paved the way for young girls from similar backgrounds.

“Having role models is so important,” she said to Sunrisers.

Representation matters a lot, especially in a sport where there are so few British South Asian women.

“By embracing our authentic selves on the pitch, we send a powerful message that cricket is a sport for everyone,” Maqsood added to Cricket Scotland.

Earlier this year, Maqsood appeared on CBeebies Bedtime Story for the second time.

Named “South Asia’s fastest man”, sprinter Yupun Abeykoon has been breaking records across the region.

The 29-year-old, born in Sri Lanka, won bronze in the men’s 100m race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Abeykoon was also the first South Asian in 32 years to qualify for the men’s 100m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he went out in the heats.

The region’s only athlete to clock under 10 seconds in the men’s 100m sprint, he also holds the South Asian record for the men’s 60m and 200m, as well as the Asian record for the 150m.

The sprinter was aiming to participate at the 2024 Paris games but did not qualify in time.

Abeykoon said the lack of Sri Lankan athletes made him look elsewhere in South Asia for a role model when he was starting his professional career.

“I want kids to be inspired by me as well,” he told Sportstar in 2022.

Defender Asmita Ale is one of the few South Asian female footballers in England.

Born in Dorset to parents from Nepal, the 22-year-old made history in 2019 when she signed her first professional contract with Aston Villa, becoming the first footballer of Nepalese origin to join a Premier League club.

Ale continues to break barriers for South Asian women, by playing in the Women’s Super League.

She started her career in Aston Villa’s academy at the age of eight and, having joined the women’s team, she helped the club win the Championship and get promoted to the top tier of women’s football.

A move to Tottenham Hotspur followed in 2021, before a spell on loan at Leicester City last season.

That agreement was made permanent in July as Ale remained the only British South Asian in the league.

Internationally, she has represented England at youth levels and could become the first South Asian to play for the Lionesses.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Ale said her parents always tell her to be proud of her heritage.

India’s Mirabai Chanu not only lifts weights but she also breaks barriers for female South Asians.

A decorated weightlifter, the 30-year-old has won 11 medals in her career so far, including silver at the Tokyo Olympics and gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 49kg events.

She competed in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at Paris 2024, but narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth.

Chanu is the youngest of six siblings, born and raised in Nongpok Kakching village, where her family realised her talent when she was aged around 12.

When starting her career, she said India’s most decorated weightlifter Kunjarani Devi was her role model, and who later became Chanu’s coach.

“I want to be a role model for those aspiring to take up weightlifting,” she told the Hindustan Times after her gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.