But some neighbours jeer at the athlete as she travels to and from her small mudbrick home in a poor area of Kabul for training.
"My father, mother and brother all support and encourage me that is why I am here now," said Mahboba. "The problem is with my neighbours; they are trying to humiliate me, that is the main problem I have."
The Taliban have now come back to fight an insurgency against the pro-Western government and foreign troops in Afghanistan and many ordinary Afghans have fallen victim to suicide bombs, assassination and kidnapping. But Ahdyar is undaunted.
"I'm not scared of anything because God created me one day and I believe that one day I will die," she said. "Whatever is my destiny will happen. I am choosing the right way which is for my benefit and the benefit of all young people."
Also see: A new low for Indian hockey
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