Volleyball team lead revival of women's sport in Algeria

By William Maclean

ALGIERS (Reuters) - The Beijing Olympics mark a modest recovery for women's sport in Algeria, where female athletes were once reviled by religious conservatives.

Runner Hassiba Boulmerka was spat at on her return to the north African country after her 1,500 meters win in Barcelona in 1992.

Religious leaders condemned the young woman from Constantine for "daring to display her nudity before the whole world".

It was a moment of profound division as Algeria descended into years of strife between the army and Islamist rebels.

Now a new generation of female athletes are making a push to pursue sporting dreams. The Muslim country remains traumatized by the 1990s violence and by recent occasional high-profile bombings, but the overall political situation has stabilized.

The nation's female volleyball players show just how far things could change: All Africa Games champions, they are on their way to Beijing, the first time an Algerian women's volleyball team has competed in the world's greatest sporting event.

"It's a dream for every athlete," said team captain Marimal Madani, 24, speaking breathlessly between exercises during weight training with her fellow players in an Algiers gym.

The Algerians won a qualifying tournament in January to snap up Africa's only berth in the women's competition in Beijing.