Emirati women are drawing attention for their success in the world of weightlifting in this year’s Olympics, fighting sexist jibes and social resistance to achieve their dreams.
Ayesha Al Balushi, 24, smashed her personal best in Rio this week, leaving the competition with pride at representing her country.
“I hope that I did my country proud and represented it in the best way possible and that I was a positive image for UAE women. The UAE is full of talent that is capable of accomplishing great things and I hope that my participation at the Olympics opens the door for other female athletes and paves the way for them to compete at major events,” she said.
“Raise your heads high, I am the daughter of the UAE and I am here, at the biggest sporting event in the world.’”
Al Balushi has had to work hard to get to the Olympics – she represents the UAE after winning 13 gold medals in past Olympic competitions. And in a recent interview with CNN, her teammate Amna Al Haddad described being told that her place was in the kitchen, not lifting weights – but she’s never lacking a sharp answer to sexist slurs.
“It’s amazing to feel powerful, that I can do what I want to do,” she said. “Doing this was really hard for me and for my culture and society, it’s not normal for a girl to compete in weightlifting competitions.”
And for both women, weightlifting has meant increasing their strength in all areas of their life – not just their body.
“When I began playing it was only about the physical strength,” Al Haddad said. “But after all I’ve improved, I realize that strength means much more than that. It’s a spiritual and ideological thing… There is something in weightlifting that makes me stronger. It’s made me realize that I can do something big as a woman in the Arab World.”
