2024-06-20 07:15:30
The Asian champion and the primary Saudi girl to qualify for the Olympics, Donia Abu Talib, a woman, began taekwondo with the boys as a result of girls weren’t allowed to take part within the sport in Saudi Arabia on the time. The qualifier at the moment desires of profitable a gold medal on the Paris Olympics.
If the dark-haired, masked lady achieves her aim, she’s going to turn into the primary Saudi athlete to win a medal on the Olympics and can even go away her mark on her nation’s first gold medal.
However the beaming lady’s journey started with the boys and he or she at the moment receives robust help and a spotlight from the federal government, together with her image additionally being plastered on road indicators as Saudi girls weren’t allowed to take part in sports activities till just a few years in the past.
“I began doing taekwondo once I was eight years previous and there was no help like there may be now,” the 27-year-old advised AFP following ending a night coaching session in Abha in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
She laughs as she remembers her troublesome beginnings: “I all the time performed with the boys within the boys’ centre, not the ladies’ centre, and I used to put on a scarf to cowl my hair in order to not present that I used to be a woman.”
Combating males “makes me stand out, makes me robust. I just like the problem,” stated the lady from the coastal metropolis of Jeddah defiantly.
The rich Gulf kingdom’s closed society has for many years prevented girls from taking on sports activities. Saudi athletes made their first look on the Olympics on the 2012 London Video games, with visitor judoka Wijdan Shahrkhani, however she misplaced in simply 82 seconds, whereas Sarah Attar got here final within the 800m preliminaries.
Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman turned crown prince in 2017, Saudi Arabia has eased restrictions on girls, permitting them to drive and inspiring them to work in varied industries.
The authorities lifted the ban on girls coming into soccer stadiums and established a girls’s soccer league and nationwide workforce. Abu Talib benefited from these social reforms and obtained robust help from the native soccer affiliation.
The participant, who has a legislation diploma however has not but pursued a profession in legislation, then received the primary gold medal for Saudi girls on the Arab Championships within the UAE in February 2020.
Though she didn’t qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the summertime of 2021, she was in a position to win a bronze medal within the 53kg class on the 2022 Asian Championships and a bronze medal within the 49kg class on the World Championships in Mexico that very same 12 months.
Final March, Abu Talib turned the primary Saudi girl to qualify for the Olympics via the qualifiers, following which received the gold medal on the 2024 Asian Championships, the primary ever taekwondo match in Saudi Arabia. These outcomes moved her to fourth place on the planet at -53 kg.
“From the start, I dreamed of turning into a world champion, collaborating within the Olympics and profitable a gold medal,” Abu Talib stated subsequent to a big banner together with her photograph on the Abha Taekwondo Fitness center.
Traditionally, Saudi athletes have been content material with 4 Olympic medals: two silvers and two bronzes, all for males.
“Kill or be killed”
Saudi Arabia aspires to turn into a world sporting powerhouse, attracting worldwide soccer stars led by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian Neymar.
Saudi Sports activities Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Saud stated Saudi Arabia is the one candidate to host the 2034 World Cup, and internet hosting the 2027 Asian Cup and the 2034 Asian Video games can be “its aim.” Saudi Arabia advised AFP in 2022.
Regardless of his unpopular private sport, Abu Talib has obtained important authorities consideration, consistent with the dominion’s current curiosity in girls.
In response to this, Saudi Arabia has attracted Russian coach Kurban Bogdayev, who led Tunisian athlete Mohammed Yandoubi to win the silver medal on the Tokyo Olympics, to oversee because the finish of 2021.
“After I first met Dunya, her stage was very low, however I noticed her need to develop and obtain,” Bogdayev stated, though he didn’t anticipate her to qualify for the Olympics.
He praised her for “coaching laborious, all the time believing in herself and having confidence in what she will be able to do.”
In early June, the Saudi Taekwondo Federation organized a 10-day coaching course in Abha, with a complete of 24 athletes from six nations collaborating, together with two athletes from Gabon and Palestine who’ve certified for the Olympics.
For regarding two hours, Abu Talib, carrying a blue helmet and standing on a kickboard, carried out health and preventing workouts, nimbly avoiding punches from a Russian fighter and one other from Uzbekistan.
Sadad Al-Omari, president of the Saudi Taekwondo Federation, stated that “producing an Olympic champion takes years and is a nationwide venture,” noting that Abu Talib had gone from “an unranked athlete to at least one near the highest rankings” in a brief time frame.
For her Russian coach, a very powerful factor earlier than the Olympics is to “be mentally and psychologically prepared and handle stress”, and praised the participant’s “psychological energy”.
Abu Talib is totally conscious of the pressures, however insists, “I am comfy” and “my focus is on coaching.” “As the primary Saudi girl to qualify for the Olympics, I’ve reached the stage the place it is kill or be killed, I’ve reached the purpose the place I’ve to attain one thing,” she says.
She continued firmly: “I notice that every one the hopes of the Saudis are on me… It is an incentive, nevertheless it additionally places stress on the gamers, and I imagine, God prepared, I’ll obtain one thing nice.”
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