Dawn writes, “Pakistan’s Naseem Akhtar created history on Monday by becoming the fastest woman of the region when she won the 100-meter sprint gold medal at the South Asian Games.” And beyond the pride and excitement I feel for this young woman, I feel a greater sense of excitement for the rest of us because of the perfect opportunity Naseem has just handed to us. Don’t follow?

It’s that one delicious news piece of a story that is worth stumbling over, tweeting out and facebooking all in one go. The traditional news websites across Pakistan probably won’t find a great deal of substance, but then, that’s alright considering we can’t FIND most of our traditional newspapers online anyway. But here’s a perfect example of how Naseem’s monumental win is worth sending into a viral whir around the entire World Wide Web!

I’ve got this Dawn News report on my Facebook status and I’ll push it through all my social networking channels. But more than just the recycling of the Dawn report, it would be interesting to see just how many of the local sports blogs pick the story up and write their own analysis of the significant win.

More than sports blogs, I’m wondering if any economy-related bloggers will post pieces about how Naseem COULD inspire an entire generation of women to train for athletics and Track and Field. How about getting the local fashion blogs to post how much tougher it might be to run or train, let alone win, in the kind of uniform the more conservative societies may be inclined on sticking to. Talk about the garment, the rate of sweat absorption or how less or more aerodynamic it might be.

Culture and travel blogs? I’d like to find out where Naseem and her team mates are from and what the cultural heritage or significance of the location might be. Tell me what transport can take me there, how much it costs and how her city, town or village might be able to use this win to boost one more traveler to their lands.

I hope bloggers can ask the tough questions such as, “Now that Naseem’s won and been awarded 100,000 Rupees, what’s the game plan?” I’m hoping the online community will ask “How will she continue her training?” or “How will she earn for her family so that she CAN train?” or how about “Is there a future for women’s athletics in Pakistan?” or “What facilities do we have locally?” and “Will this just be a shortlived bright light in a really dark tunnel?”. If she makes it into the hall of fame of Pakistanis that give us hope through these troubled times or will politics and stupidity have her suffer the same desecrated fate as most sports do in this country?

Dawn posted this news item on their website. I think I saw the link on Wateen’s news portal but was dismayed to find that they pick up their (broken) news feeds from the New York Times website and any concoction of other portals. But that’s it. I wish I could say I was disappointed but I’m not. It’s understandable that the mainstream media may not find as much spice in promoting Naseem Akhtar’s win than they would in promoting a clown on a political talkshow. It’s not all that shameful. I see hope in the Pakistani blogosphere that pushes news that is actually significant. I’m counting on the bloggers to push this story up the viral foodchain on the great WWW.

Congratulations Pakistan! Our 22-year old from Rawalpindi is South Asian’s fastest! She clocked the 100 meters in 11.81 seconds. How fast can the Pakistani blogosphere help her achievement run online?

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