Abu Dhabi: An extraordinary line-up of sporting pioneers, and a captivating selection of stories of human achievement, left a lasting impression on listeners during the second day of the International Conference of Sports for Women (ICSW) 2017 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
A trio of inspirational sportswomen, whose personal achievements had the audience in awe, took to the stage for a captivating first panel session. Zahra Lari, a three-time UAE national figure-skating champion and the first Emirati figure-skater to compete on the international stage, was joined by Raha Moharrak, the youngest Arab and first Saudi to successfully climb Mount Everest, and Samar Nassar, Jordanian Olympic swimmer and CEO of the Local Organizing Committee of the Fifa U-17 Women’s World cup 2016.
The panel entitled ‘The Making of a 21st Century Role Model: The Rise of Sports Women in the Arab World’ gave the esteemed panellists a chance to talk about their own journeys to sporting success and the people who inspired them along the way. “I’ve always been very lucky — I grew up with amazing parents but it wasn’t one person, one big name who inspired me,” Raha said.
“The simple everyday person who lives an extraordinary life is what inspires me the most. The people who have a passion to go beyond the realms of what is possible are those that inspire me the most. If I had to choose one, it would be my parents. They could see my eccentricity and they were afraid and nervous, but they loved me anyway and they gave me an abundance of acceptance and love.”
Olympic swimmer-turned-sports administrator, Samar Nassar said: “Each one of us needs someone to inspire us. I had many athletes who were role-models, but the ultimate role model for me was Muhammad Ali. He was not just a great boxer but a global humanitarian and philanthropist. I badly needed inspiration at the time and I found an adidas shopping bag that had the words ‘impossible is not a fact, it’s an opinion’ printed on it, and this had a big impact on me. I found it an excellent way to change something negative into something positive. So I believed in that and started to not accept defeat.”
The second panel of the day — ‘Sport Across Generations: Opportunities and Challenges’ — proved to be no less inspiring as another stellar line-up of speakers shared their stories and advice in a discussion of how sport has, from grass roots to the elite level, changed in terms of its accessibility, the way it is structured, and the way it has been promoted over the generations. 86-year-old Sister Madonna Buder, known as ‘the Iron Nun’ and the oldest record holder in ironman triathlons, was joined by International Master and Woman Grandmaster chess player Tania Sachdev, 14-time Muay Thai and kick-boxing world champion, Julie Kitchen, and Amal Murad, the first Emirati parkour instructor.
“My grandfather taught me that quitters never win, and winners never quit,” Sister Madonna explained.
“I want to say to people — never lose your inner child, don’t grow up”, she advised the younger generations in the audience.
Muay Thai World Champion Julie Kitchen, who only took up her sport at the age of 21, explained how it is never too late to start in sports. “I was a very shy, timid, quiet girl, but I wanted to prove everyone wrong,” she said.
Arguably the most heartfelt speech of the morning came courtesy of Special Olympics icon and 10-time medallist, Loretta Claiborne. The athlete, who was born partially blind and unable to walk or speak until the age of four, was introduced to Special Olympics in 1971, which she described as a “turning point” in her life. She won her first gold medal at the 1983 World Games, has since won dozens of medals at various events, and is a seasoned athlete in karate, skiing, skating, and basketball. She holds the women’s record for the 5,000m run in the Special Olympics World Games for her age category and has featured in the top 100 women at the Boston Marathon twice.
