How Malala Yousafzai and Asser Malik are using sport to rewrite the rules for women

When Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and sports executive Asser Malik married in 2021, the world celebrated it as a union between activism and athletics — a meeting of purpose and passion. But for the couple, it wasn’t simply about love or partnership; it was about redefining what equality could look like in every sphere, including the one where women have historically been sidelined — sport. For Malala, whose adolescence was shaped by activism and public expectation, marriage once symbolised limitation. She had often spoken against the institution, associating it with control and cultural pressure. Yet her relationship with Asser transformed that perception. In her recent appearance on the Modern Love podcast, she recalled how her husband’s kindness and shared values ch