Muslim ‘girls only’ swimming sessions ripple Danish waters

Hundreds of young Muslim girls have flocked to swimming lessons in Copenhagen's immigrant-heavy Tingbjerg district after Hovedstadens Svømmeklub (Capital City Swimming Club) introduced segregated swimming sessions.

While the swimming club has hailed the move as a "recipe for integration", politicians and commentators have criticised the concept as being against Danish values.

The girl-only sessions, which also take place with windows and doors to the swimming hall blacked out, were set up in response to religious and cultural requirements put forward by parents, reports Berlingske.

The newspaper reports that 246 girls of non-Danish ethnic origin between the ages of five and 12 have begun attending swimming lessons at the hall since the sessions were introduced.

“We have gone from zero to several hundred girls in three years, and have successfully established a swimming option for a specific group, which would otherwise find swimming difficult to access because of religion,” Lars Sørensen, the director of Hovedstadens Svømmeklub (HSK), told Berlingske.

A 2011 report by the Danish Sports Association (Dansk Idrætsforbund) showed that 28 percent of ethnic Danes were members of sports clubs, compared to 18 percent of non-ethnic Danes.

Sørensen told Berlingske that encouraging young Muslim girls to take part in sport - while keeping with their own religious practices - strengthens both physical wellbeing and integration amongst the girls.

“Many of these girls come here and meet role models from their own neighbourhoods standing on the poolside in the coach’s jersey,” said Sørensen. “At the same time, they learn to swim, which gives safety, fitness and well being.”

Sørensen added that the club did not consider the introduction of segregated lessons an extraordinary measure.

“It is just a condition [for taking part], just as some people swimming in 50 metre lanes and others swimming in 25 metre lanes,” the pool trainer told Berlingske.

“We are the second biggest sporting association in the country, so we think it’s our responsibility to offer a considered range of swimming lessons,” he added.

But the City of Copenhagen's deputy mayor for culture and leisure, Carl Christian Ebbesen of the Danish People’s Party (DF), told Berlingske that creating segregated swimming sessions for Muslim girls was bad for integration and “destructive” for Danish culture.

“It is completely crazy to meet these demands. There is a desperately short supply of swimming pools, so we shouldn’t be closing them down by putting curtains in front of the windows and signs saying ‘just for girls’ just to meet the demands of religious fanatics,” Ebbesen said.

The DF politician said that Muslim girls were welcome to take part in sports clubs, but that this must be done on the same basis as everybody else.

“We must go to the parents via our integration policies and explain to them that we cannot meet their special requirements,” Ebbesen told Berlingske.

“They must send their girls to sport and other activities like everyone else. Every time we meet these demands, we are destroying the society we’ve worked so hard for,” he continued.

Rikke Lauritzen of the left-wing Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), who is responsible for municipality financial support for community projects in Copenhagen, said that Ebbesen should “relax a little bit” and called the swimming initiative “super cool”.

“The most important thing for me is to get children from all backgrounds involved in clubs and associations of all kinds, so that they can be part of the democratic development process that this entails,” Lauritzen told Berlingske.

“It’s super cool, that so many children have begun swimming in Tingbjerg, because it shows that it works when we provide funds for development. I would therefore like to congratulate HSK on its success,” she continued.

Lauritzen also pointed out that single-sex swimming lessons are not an extraordinary sight.

Source: http://www.thelocal.dk/20160427/muslim-girls-only-swimming-sessions-ripple-danish-waters

Iranian swimmer Elham Asghari: 'My 20km record has been held hostage'

By Saeed Kamali Dehghan

On a Tuesday morning in June, Elham Asghari stepped into the tidal waters of the chilly Caspian sea in northern Iran to swim 20km in full Islamic dress. But her record-breaking nine-hour feat has not been recognised by national authorities because she is a woman.

"Although I [stuck to] the full Islamic dress code and had swimmingofficials present at all times, [the authorities] said no matter how Islamic my swimming gear, it was unacceptable," she told the Guardian. "They said the feminine features of my body were showing as I came out of water."

Swimming in open waters had been Asghari's childhood dream. To achieve her goal, she looked for training programmes on the internet and came up with the idea of designing a special swimsuit – a full hijab, covering her body from head to toe. It adds some 6kg to her weight in water and, she says, it is painful to wear.

Last month, although she broke her previous national swimming record, Iranian authorities refused to recognise her achievement.

In frustration Asghari posted a video of herself online with the help of her manager, Farvartish Rezvaniyeh, who decided to help publicise her plight when he heard about it on Facebook. "I could not believe this injustice was happening to a record-breaking champion. I contacted her … and we made the video," he said.

The footage, which includes the 32-year-old swimming in her Islamic swimsuit and appealing to her fellow Iranians for support, quickly caught the attention of thousands of people who shared the video clip on social networks. Tributes poured in as more people became aware of her cause.

In the video, posted on YouTube and viewed by at least 120,000 people, Asghari promises not to give in to pressure. "No swimmer will ever accept to swim with such swimsuits; swimming with these swimsuits always hurts my body," she says in a voiceover as she is seen swimming in a pool.

"I swam 20km in [the northern city of] Nowshahr, they lowered it to 15km. I protested and they accepted 18km. Yet now, they do not register the record.

"My 20km record has been held hostage in the hands of people who cannot even swim a distance of 20 metres. I have passed tough days and nights. This incident is unbelievable for me. I will not give in to pressure. Swimming is not exclusively for men – we ladies do well too."

Women in Iran can use public swimming pools at gender-segregated times, or women-only sections, but sports officials are reluctant to allow them into open waters. "They fear that if they recognise my record then they would unwittingly approve my swimming gear and that would eventually give women swimmers access to open waters," Asghari said.

She started swimming aged five, she said. "Sometimes I feel I am an amphibian, capable of living both on land and in water. In a 24-hour [period], I spend as much time on land that I spent in water. My father was a veteran wrestler … it was him who encouraged me to register my records."

In a previous open-water race near the southern island of Kish, Asghari said police boats tried to stop her in a dramatic sequence of events that led to her leg and hip being sliced by the vessel's propellers.

After battling various gender-related obstacles during PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad's eight years in office, Asghari has pinned her hopes for change on the newly elected leader, Hassan Rouhani, who will be sworn in in August. "I hope that in President Rouhani's government, these people [hindering my career] will have no place. I will definitely follow up the case about my swimming record [when he takes office]."

Iran prevents female swimmers from participating in overseas competitions. The Women's Islamic Games in Tehran is one of the few international events where domestic swimmers are permitted to take part.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/05/iranian-swimmer-elham-asghari 

Egypt's First Female Dive Master Speaks Out

BY: TAFLINE LAYLIN

Egypt has certified the country’s first female dive master – a devout Muslim who refers to herself as a feminist. With coveted dive spots scattered all along the Red Sea, the ecologically-threatened Sinai Peninsula attracts scores of Egyptian and foreign visitors every year. But until now, not one Arab or Egyptian woman has taken their passion as far as Suezett al-Fallal.

Hamdy Anan has been leading diving trips for the last 17 years, and in all that time, he told Egypt Independent, there has not been a single female dive master. Anan helped to oversee al-Fallal’s three month certification course, a process that requires extraordinary commitment and physical stamina, but  there is more to the newly ordained dive master than meets the eye.

On the outside, no one sees much of al-Fallal since she covers herself head to toe in accordance with her strict religious beliefs. She is a muslim, and maintains coverage of her head, arms and legs whether she is ploughing the vast desert or navigating the great marine underworld.

But on the inside, this woman is a firecracker who wears many hats!

Only 27 years old, al-Fallal has a degree in cinematography, and worked as a stylist and camera assistant before quitting the industry.

She was disappointed in how poorly women are portrayed in movies and television, and felt that insufficient effort is made to use television’s widespread influence to the betterment of society.

Al-Fallal has also worked as a personal trainer in various gyms across Cairo and as an assistant parachuting coach at an Egyptian military-run club, Egypt Independent reports.

Apart from the stylist position, all of these positions are stereotypically reserved for men, so it is no small feat that a woman, especially one who observes hijab (the veil), should have experience in all of them before her 30th birthday.

Unsurprisingly, al-Fallal’s road has not been without its pitfalls.

She told Egypt Independent that it is not easy for an Egyptian woman to travel and live alone without facing scorn or judgement from society, but she considers herself a feminist and still has a handful of other big goals she would like to meet.

In addition to becoming a dive instructor and opening her own shop, a dream she has had since she was 18, al-Fallal wants to do underwater photography – a pioneering field in Egypt that would allow her to combine two of what appear to many loves.

She also wants to learn how to sew, so that she can fashion her own clothing.

When the paper asked the dive master if they could do a profile, she humbly thought she didn’t have much to offer and felt hesitant to go through with it. Ultimately she did – in order to inspire other women to step out and live their dream.

Maybe a girl will read it and [decide to] do something that she really likes,” she said, “and someone who thinks negatively about Muslims will read it and change his mind.”

Story Source: http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/02/egypts-first-female-dive-master/

above pic of  al-Fallal via http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/dahab-s-first-egyptian-woman-divemaster-blazes-trail

Fearless and Female: Cox's Bazaar Best Surfer

BY: SHIREEN AHMED

“I feel free on the water...where I am from and who I am doesn’t really matter”.- Nassima Atker

Cox’s Bazaar, in the southeast corner of Bangladesh, is a perfect spot for surfing. In the early nineties a local resident, Jafar Alam, set up a surf school and promised to teach kids and passer-by how to surf. He was supported and encouraged by a group of Americans who had stopped to surf in Bangladesh. Alam’s surf school: Surfing Bangladesh now has more than 70 participants. One of whom is Nassima Atker, a Rohingya refugee from Burma. Atker moved to Bangladesh with her family to escape persecution, sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing.

According to the United Nations the Muslims of Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. There are more than 200,000 refugees in Bangladesh who are struggling to live in squalor. 40,000 of them are undocumented.  Due to a recent NGO ban in the area, these people are not provided with any type of assistance. They are resented by Bangladesh who insist they are illegal migrants although the Burmese government denies they are Burmese. Since the 8th century their historical and natural ties to land are mostly from Arakan in Burma.
No one is willing to accept or embrace them.

Essentially, they are a people without a home. Rohingya’ are denied citizenship and victims of institutionalized discrimination. They look similar to Bangladeshis and speak a different language and are of a different religion but essentially they are from Burma.
In addition to being a displaced and vulnerable population, the women struggle with poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to health care and are often forced into sexual and forced labour.

One woman is facing insurmountable struggles, not only culturally and socio-economically; she is one of Bangladesh’s most agile and skilled surfers and receiving very little encouragement.

And she is labelled a “whore” for wanting to surf.

Obviously, in a region where survival is a basic challenge, surfing and participating in beach activities are not viewed upon favourably. Or a priority.

Nassima, is the only woman actively surfing. But she is not supported by her neighbours and community.

Her Muslim culture is very conservative and although there are organizations who were established to empower youth and teach them surfing, she is facing more and more opposition to her athleticism.

She recalls her first experience on the water was challenging but that she felt a connection to the ocean and keep practicing.

Nassima wears a salwar kameez- full shirt and loose pants- as her surfing kit. She is already married and is a doting wife. Her husband does not oppose her interest in surfing.

She and her family have seen much strife. Her people are still suffering. Nassima has been incredibly brave to continue with surfing and ignore the hostility and discouraging behaviour of some of the community.  She has developed and worked hard at an athletic skill that is difficult. She is accomplished and humble.

Had Nassima been in a different part of the world her talent would have been recognized and instead of being ostracized she would have been encouraged. She should be lauded for being an incredible role model for young women. Despite her struggles with malnutrition, at 14 years of age, Nassima managed to beat all the boys in a local surfing championship.

Unfortunately, her surrounding community feels differently.  

She has been beaten, cursed at and has had trash thrown at her en route to her beach to surf in the afternoon.

Nassima’s courage and passion for her sport has not gone unnoticed.

Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Director of United Nations Women, gave a talk at the 2012 International Olympic Committee Conference on Women and and referenced Nassima in her speech:

“Just a year ago, more girls than boys belonged to the [Bangladesh Surf] club. But as surfing gained popularity, some community leaders felt that surfing was inappropriate for women and girls. Since then, almost every female club member has dropped. Nassima is the only one left.

Today, Nassima is an outstanding surfer and has already won several local surfing contests. If she lived here in California, she could be competitive on the amateur girls surf circuit. If her potential was discovered and nurtured, Nassima could get a chance at competing internationally. She could become Bangladesh’s first international surf star and maybe change some of the views about girls and sports.

Nassima’s example reminds us that more investments are necessary to foster women’s participation and leadership in sport. Female coaches, peer educators and sport staff offer visible proof that women and girls can excel and lead in society.”

Nassima and any other budding young female athletes should be given an opportunity to be youth and excel at their sport. They face enough challenges and difficulties on land that they feel liberated on water.

Nassima is part of a displaced community that is desperate for humanitarian assistance.

At present, she is hoping to train as a lifeguard. She would be Bangladesh’s first female lifeguard. She is hoping to use her techniques and talent to teach, inspire and keep riding the waves.

with notes from: http://www.theinertia.com/surf/the-most-fearless-surfer/

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2012/12/mil-121217-irin01.htm

images via: Heather Kissinger & http://surfingthenations.com/bangladesh/

Pakistani swimmer breaks International Records

BY: NATASHA RAHEEL

KARACHI: National swimming champion Kiran Khan finished 10th in her 50-metre butterfly event at the ninth Asian Swimming Championship in Dubai but Liana Swann managed to break three national records in the 400 individual medley, 100-metre freestyle and 200-metre breast stroke events.

The Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) had sent five swimmers to Dubai where Kiran made a comeback to the international arena after an 18-month break.

Swann came 11th in the 200m breaststroke event, finishing in two minutes and 51 seconds which improved her national record by a second.

She finished the 100m freestyle in one minute and 30 seconds, improving by a second once again, before finishing the 400m individual medley in five minutes and 27 seconds.

According to the PSF Secretary Majid Waseem, the federation is pinning their hopes on Swann who trains in Dubai throughout the year.

“Swann will be competing in three more races so we are hoping that she will break more national records,” Swann’s coach Ashley Morris told The Express Tribune.

‘Faster than Kiran and Anam’

“She is 15 right now and faster than Kiran and Anam Banday (the swimmer PSF sent to the Olympics earlier this year). Our aim is to set new records here in Dubai and then prepare for the World Swimming Championships next year.

If she remains in form, she may be sent to the 2016 Olympics. She has a lot of potential.”

Two other young swimmers Areeba Saif and Anisha will be competing in the individual medley events today.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/466849/liana-breaks-three-national-records/

Qatar Women Hope To Make History

DOHA, Qatar, Dec 23, (AP): Three weeks before the Arab Games in Doha, Qatari sports officials called Nada Mohammed Wafa to tell her she would be competing in the Middle East’s biggest sporting event. Surprised - and a bit scared - the 17-year-old swimmer replied: “Oh wow! Sure!” Wafa, who had only competed in school-level events until then, trained hard to make up for the short time she had before making history by becoming the first woman on Qatar’s national swim team. “It’s a good feeling, but it’s also very lonely,” Wafa said. “It’s just me, myself and I.” Wafa may be Qatar’s lone female swimmer, but she is part of a group of emerging athletes in the conservative Muslim country that hopes to send women to the Olympics for the first time in London next year. And if Wafa’s phone rings in five months or somebody confirms her name is on the list, she would be delighted to go and compete.

Nada Mohammed Wafa

“I’d be over the moon,” Wafa said. Along with Saudi Arabia and Brunei, Qatar has never sent female athletes to the Olympics. Last year, the International Olympic Committee urged the three countries to end the practice of sending all-male teams to the games, hoping that naming and shaming would do more for female athletes than banning their nations from the Olympics. While Saudi Arabia’s plans to send women to the London Games remain wrapped in secrecy, Qatar is feverishly working to escape the stigma that comes with failing to include women. Over the past decade, the tiny but rich Gulf country has been targeting sports as a vehicle to showcase its global aspirations. Last year, it became the first Arab country to win the right to host the World Cup in 2022. And Qatar’s bid for the 2020 Olympics adds the pressure to include women on the teams in London.

Qatar Olympic Committee President Sheik Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said female athletes have been competing in international tournaments for the past three years, including last year’s Youth Olympics in Singapore.
The only reason women were not included for the 2008 Beijing Games is because they didn’t qualify in any sport, Sheik Saoud said. He added that Qatar is talking to the IOC about sending female athletes to the games next year on wild-card invitations.
“That’s the thing with the Olympics. They can’t go if they don’t qualify,” Sheik Saoud said. “It’s not about us being unwilling to send women to the tournament. But it takes time to prepare athletes to compete on the international level.”

It also takes time to change mindsets in a deeply conservative society. Qatar follows the Wahhabi branch of Islam, a strict version that predominates in Saudi Arabia.
There are no written laws in Qatar - or Saudi Arabia - that ban and restrict women from participating in sports. Rather, the stigma of female athletes is rooted in conservative traditions and religious views that hold giving freedom of movement to women would make them vulnerable to sins.
Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where women are still banned from driving, much has changed in Qatar since the country began an ambitious process of opening up to the world, largely through hosting high-profile sporting events in tennis, soccer, and track and field.

But getting women to compete in Qatar is quite a different thing than sending then to compete abroad.
“It’s unusual in this culture,” said Hana al-Badr, a 20-year-old handball player who has seen the change since she joined Qatar’s first female handball team four years ago. “My teachers and my friends in school use to look at me and say, ‘You are a girl and you are traveling to play outside? How can your family let you?’ But now it’s become normal.”
Wafa, the swimmer, didn’t win any medals at the Arab Games but succeeded in improving her times.
She beat her best in the 50-meter breast stroke by 3 seconds and missed the finals by a second. She also improved her time in the 50 freestyle by a second, beat her personal best in the 100 breast stroke by 15 seconds and was happy with her time of 1 minute, 10 seconds in the 100 freestyle.
“It was amazing experience,” Wafa said. “I had so little time to train, but I finished seconds away from champions. I am so happy with my results.”

Qatar has invested heavily in women’s sports over the past decade, introducing special programs for girls in school and organizing training camps at home and abroad for female athletes with talent and ambition to compete on the international level.
In the past three years, al-Badr and her teammates played in three international tournaments, including last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, where 90 Qatari women competed in a half-dozen disciplines.
Qatar also started a six-team women’s soccer league last year and hosted a Gulf basketball tournament. The shining moment for Qatar’s female athletes came at last year’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where two qualified to compete.

Challenge
“It’s a big challenge for us,” said Lolwah al-Marri, the general secretary of Qatar’s Olympic committee who is charged with developing sports for women. “When we started, families were concerned for the girls’ safety and were afraid people would start talking badly about their daughters.”
The focus 10 years ago was on building women’s team sports, but by December 2011, when Doha was hosting the Arab Games, 40 percent of the Qatari delegation were women, competing in volleyball and basketball and eight individual sports, including gymnastics and swimming.
“The dress code is a big problem in these sports,” al-Marri said.
There are signs, however, that the times when families in the desert nation of 1.6 million kept their women confined to the home are receding into the past.

“It’s not an issue, the dress,” said Shaden Wahdan, a 16-year-old gymnast.
One of the costumes she wore at the Youth Olympics will one day be on display at an Olympic Museum that Qatar plans to open, Wahdan said. She is the first woman to have competed for Qatar in an Olympic event last year.
“I don’t really care what people think. I want to compete and win medals,” Wahdan said during this month’s Arab Games, the region’s biggest multi-sports event.
And win medals she did: two golds, one on the floor and another in the beam. She also was awarded two silver medals and a bronze, a tally that definitely boosted her chances of going to the London Games.
“It would be such a great experience,” Wahdan said.
Saudi Arabia’s 18-year-old equestrian athlete, Dalma Rushdi Malhas, was the first woman to compete internationally for the ultra-conservative kingdom. She won a bronze medal at the Singapore Youth Olympics.
Sticking to tradition, Saudi Arabia sent an all-male team to the Arab Games, but local media have reported that Riyadh might send Malhas to the London Games to avoid criticism.

Banned
Women’s rights organizations - and some IOC members - say Saudi Arabia should be banned from the Olympics for excluding women.
“Dalma is being used as a token woman they want to send to London to avoid being banned,” said Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Washington-based Institute of Gulf Affairs that has been behind the “No Women No Play” campaign that advocates the Saudi Olympic ban.
Qatari sports officials say it is unfair to lump their nation with Saudi Arabia. Many credit Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, Qatar’s first lady and a campaigner for women’s empowerment, for successfully conveying the message to society that sports can be good for girls.
“Going to the games is not an issue in Qatar. Changing mindsets is,” said Noora al-Mannai, the CEO of Doha’s 2020 Olympic bid, adding that Doha will in the next three years open a high-performance training center for female athletes from all over the region.
“It’s happening,” al-Mannai said, “but changes take time and I am sure that by the time Olympics come to Doha, there will be many female athletes who qualify to compete.”

Source: http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/177615/reftab/36/t/Qatar-women-hope-to-make-history/Default.aspx

Irish Surf Champion's mission to Iran to get women surfing

BY: TRACY MCVEIGH

Off a quiet stretch of Iran's Indian Ocean coast villagers gathered to stare in astonishment. Someone even called out the local police, who turned up in full force. The view of an Irish woman in a hijab wetsuit riding a bright pink surfboard through the swell of a monsoon sea is not one the Islamic state's citizens get to see often.

"But they were all incredibly nice, just really intrigued and interested. The police were just worried that I'd hit the rocks and hurt myself. The worst thing really was wearing the Lycra hijab suit in 30-degree heat, that was pretty tricky. But although I'm sure it would have been fine if I'd gone out in shorts, I was keen to show total respect," said Easkey Britton, 26, four times Irish surf champion and British pro-tour champion.

The Donegal surfer's trip to Iran has been made into a short documentary by French film-maker Marion Poizeau which will be shown on French TV later this month before beginning a tour of international film festivals, hopefully later in the year.

Both women arrived in Iran unannounced and unsure of their reception. "It was just a wild plan to surf where a woman had never surfed before, to try and get other women interested," Britton said.

They didn't even know if they would be able to find waves. She went into the sea in a monsoon swell close to Chabahar, southern Iran. "There was a lot of looking at Google Earth before I went!" she laughed. "But we've been overwhelmed by the reaction to the film."

Britton hopes to use it to get more women into the waves. "I'd love to see more women surfing and I'd love to see it become a sport for everyone, not just the wealthy. There's surfing in the Gaza Strip now, and in Bangladesh, believe it or not. It's amazing really. There's also a brilliant scheme I've seen in Brazil where they are taking the kids from the favelas and getting them into surfing, donating the boards and gear. It's transforming their lives and showing that surfing can be a lot more than just a leisure pursuit, it's a great tool to open life up for women and girls and offer opportunities."

While surfing is taking off among Muslim women in California, and at least one surf company has started producing "burkini" surfwear suitable for the all-body cover-up they require, along with the Islamic swimwear that is already available, Britton is keen to encourage women from impoverished countries to taste the freedom of the waves.

Named after a wave break off her native Ireland's west coast, that was in turn named after the Irish for fish, Easkey Britton had little chance to avoid the sea. She points out that she is not just trying to get more women in the water but wants to reclaim a sport that was at its origins possibly dominated by women.

"In Hawaii, where surfing began, it was a sport of royalty and of the poor, and mostly of women. The engravings from Captain Cook's trip show lots of people out in the water on some kind of board and almost all of them were women. I suppose the missionaries came long after that, however, and that was that," she said.

"But often when kids learn to surf the girls pick it up and get better much quicker than the boys. So it's just a shame there are not more women in surfing but I hope that's changing and I want to help change it. In Ireland there's not too many women surfing either, but I think that's maybe about climate and weather as much as anything.

"Surfing is still seen as very male-dominated, but that's changing. Women are making a big impact and aren't being put off by the notion that you have to be super-fit to surf. You just need to be a good swimmer.

"I've seen a lot of newcomers fall in love with surfing and I hope to be back in Iran next year getting a few of those women I met out of a board for the first time. That would be something to get them out frolicking in the ocean, with all the freedom of the sea to enjoy."

LINK: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/21/surfing-champion-iran-mission

Rabia Ashiq: couldn't win a gold, but told her followers: They can do it!

Rabia Ashiq takes part in her women's 800m round 1 heat at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON: 

Pakistan’s last hope of bringing an Olympic medal home was lost after Rabia Ashiq was the last one to reach the finish line in the 800m race, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Ashiq could only manage 2:17, the last in her heat. The athlete’s personal best stands at 2:10, which she recorded at the Asian Grand Prix in May.

The female runner had told The Express Tribune that she was training hard and was looking forward to the competition.

Ashiq was one of the two women from Pakistan participating in the London Olympics. Swimmer Anum Bander, the other female Pakistani Olympian, represented her country well and gave the message to many Muslim girls that they can "do it" in sports.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/419193/pakistans-olympic-dream-comes-to-an-end-as-rabia-ashiq-bows-out/

Arab fans show big support to Saudi-Filipino swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi

By Ahmed SUHAIMI - Al Arabia

Susan Paler Alkhaldi, the mother of Jasmine Alkhaldi (featured on magazine cover), is just one of the supporters rooting for the Saudi-Filipino swimmer taking part in Olympics. (AP)

Jasmine Alkhaldi, a Saudi-Filipino swimmer, who represents the Philippines in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, has been receiving dozens of comments from Arabs on her Twitter account over the past few days, wishing her the best of luck. Yasmin is participating in the 100-meter freestyle event in the Games. 

“Oh. I can’t understand and speak Arabic but THANK YOU so much for all your tweets of support. I will definitely do my best,” Jasmine wrote on her Twitter account, after her fans wished her to become a winner of the gold medal. Her followers assured her that many people in Saudi Arabia are following her and wish her the best of luck.

The 19-year-old Jasmine was born in Parañaque, to a Saudi father and a Filipino mother. She holds the Philippine record for the 100-m and 50-m butterfly. She won three gold medals in the Southeast Asian Age Group Championships in 2011. 

“This will be my first time going to the Olympics,” she had told ABS-CBNnews.com in an interview before the kicking off of the London event. “Not everyone can make it to the Olympics.”

“Ever since I was a kid, this was a dream – to be part of the Olympics,” she added.

For Jasmine, making it to the London Games is the highlight of her athletic career so far, even though she has also competed in the Youth Olympics. 

“It’s really amazing to achieve the qualifying time and to be able to be here and compete for the Philippines,” she said.

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/30/229223.html

Anum Bandey breaks Pak record in London

By Alam Zeb Safi 

KARACHI: Pakistan’s England-born swimmer Anum Bandey on Saturday bettered her own national record when she clocked 5:34.64 in the opening heat of the 400m Individual Medley event of women’s swimming at London 2012 Olympic Games.

Aiming to deliver her best, the 15-year-old Anum lived up to expectations. Although her more preferred event is the 200m breaststroke, Anum was given the opportunity to show her worth at London 2012 in the 400m IM on wild card.

At last year’s World Championships in Shanghai, Anum had broken Olympian Kiran Khan’s 400m IM national record by clocking 5:37.11.

In London, Anum had entered the fray as the swimmer with the lowest timing among the 36 competitors who took part in the 400m IM heats. The timings of her other rivals was less than five minutes, much better than Anum’s.

“She has done a wonderful job by breaking her own national record,” Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) secretary Major Majid Wasim told ‘The News’ after Anum’s showing at the Aquatic Centre nestled in the Olympic Park.

“I think she is the only Pakistani swimmer in Olympic history, who has performed so well,” he said.

“Neither Rubab Raza, Kiran Khan or Adil Baig have done so well in Olympics,” added Majid, who had come under criticism for sending Anum Bandey to the World Championship in China last year.

“The way Anum has performed in London, I can confidently say that she will win a gold medal in the South Asian Game, a feat that has never been achieved by any of our female swimmers,” Majid stressed.

  

Rabia Ashiq, another Pakistani athlete, will compete in the 800m event on August 8. Rabia, who belongs to Lahore, bettered her personal best timing in the 800m by clocking 2.18 at the Asian Championship in Kobe (Japan) last year.

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-10-123451-Anum-Bandey-breaks-Pak-record-in-London

Olympics 2012: Morocco's Sara El Bekri

Morocco's Sara El Bekri competes in a women's 100-meter breaststroke swimming heat at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Sunday, July 29, 2012. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29072012/5/photo/29072012121848.html

Qatari women prepare for Olympic debut

By  Rhodri Davies

Doha, Qatar - After training, swimmer Nada Arkaji dries off inside the multi-million dollar Aspire aquatics centre. With thousands of coloured spectator seats, it's a big facility for a small nation. And Arkaji has a confidence which matches her surroundings.

"I always try my best in swimming," she told Al Jazeera. "I always try to get my personal best. So I think that I have all the potential to reach the top."

Qatar's Aspire sports academy helps train the next generation of athletes from the Gulf [EPA]

Perhaps she has reason to. She has been selected by Qatar to be one of the first three women to represent the country at an Olympic Games.

In addition to Arkaji, a sprinter and a shooter have each been given wild-card entries for the London event, which begins on July 27.

"I was overjoyed," said 17-year-old Arkaji. "Words can't explain how excited and happy and honoured and proud I was to represent my country. I'm just very proud."

Brunei and Saudi Arabia are the only other nations never to have sent a female athlete to the Olympics. They have said they will do so in London, although this has yet to be confirmed.

"It means a lot, especially to other girls. Because I'm the first Olympic swimmer, maybe that would encourage other girls as well, especially my age - or even younger - to have more opportunities to take up any sport," said Arkaji, who will compete in the 50 metres freestyle in London.

The selection has already changed her life. Her training has been ramped up to twice a day, and for longer periods. And she has been receiving plenty of media attention.

The Gulf emirate only established a national Women's Sports Committee in 2001.

Its conservative culture and strict form of Wahhabi Islam have meant that women and girls wearing tight sports clothes and having the freedom to travel to events have been limited.

And because only about 14 per cent of the country's 1.9 million people are citizens, Qatar has a small pool of athletes to develop and choose from.

Not that it's not trying to encourage female athletes. Qatar's Olympic Committee told Al Jazeera it had wanted to send female athletes to the last Olympic Games in Beijing, but none qualified. It also said it aimed to empower women through sports.

Mohamed al Fadala, the executive director of the Olympic Committee's Schools Programme, said the committee has been promoting women in sports for the past decade through schools and clubs, and with families.

"It takes time to change," he said. "But the message this year is 'Sport and Family'. This is the message we're putting in the media, for all sports.

"It doesn't matter the religion, the culture. When she has the sporting foundation, she is coming."

The committee has also poured money into building elite facilities for both men and women, as Qatar wants to become a regional sporting hub.

Doha's Khalifa Sports City features an international stadium and aquatics centre [EPA]

It hosted the 2006 Asian Games and 2011 Arab Games, where it entered 100 female athletes. That was also Arkaji's first international competition.

Qatar will be the venue for the football World Cup in 2022. While Qatar's bid to host the 2020 Olympics was rejected last week, bid CEO Noora al Mannai immediately said the nation would re-apply for the 2024 games. For Doha, the Olympics were always "a question of when, not if", said al Mannai.

But for that to happen, the nation will likely have to improve its gender disparity in sports and elsewhere - not only on the grand stages, but also at a grassroots level.

A national women's basketball league was started this year, and a football league kicked off in 2011.

But men and women are still segregated in much of public life.

Qatar's national university has two campuses, separated by gender. The female campus houses minimal sports facilities compared with the swimming and athletics stadium complexes of their male peers.

Authorities are sensitive to such an image. When interviewed by Al Jazeera, Arkaji said she could not answer questions about cultural restrictions she faced to play sport as a youngster.

In other fields, women here have made significant advances in the past decade and make up almost 70 per cent of university graduates.

But in the workplace, they are still limited to particular sectors - education, healthcare and clerical work - and few are in leadership roles - in sport or otherwise.

"Females gained a lot in the last ten years - more than the 50 or 60 years beforehand. But they have to work hard, and they are working hard - harder than men." - Dr Moza al Malki

Labour laws prohibit women from undertaking dangerous or arduous work. They are also banned from employment deemed "detrimental to their health or morals".

Some women - as in other Arab nations - are pushing for a female quota in the partially elected parliament.

Dr Moza al Malki, a Qatari writer and marriage and family psychologist, welcomed Olympic participation, but said it was an achievement that must be built upon.

"Our society is conservative," she said. "But I think the open-minded people think it is very positive. Females are not doing anything against religion or morals.

"Females gained a lot in the last ten years - more than the 50 or 60 years beforehand. But they have to work hard, and they are working hard - harder than men."

Amid the rapid expansion of Qatar's highest global per capita income, it is easy to overlook the fact that there has been significant change in an area whose people lived as nomadic tribes about a century ago.

While Emir Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani has brought in many advances, his second, and reportedly most favoured, of his three wives, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, is recognised for initiating women's programmes in education, the workplace and in sport.

But al Malki said there must be attempts to strive for greater equality.

"We look forward to real change in the society. We need fairness in this country. Sometime we feel that some people get more than they deserve and some people get less than they deserve. Unfairness sometimes hurt us."

London will be the first Summer Games where women will compete in all the same sports as men - a landmark for the International Olympic Committee, whose own openness towards female participation has grown. In the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, women made up just 20.7 per cent of the athlete pool, compared with 42.4 per cent in Beijing.

Qatar is still building in sport and across the rest of its society.

But the country has institutional ambition. The nation's Olympic Committee is aiming for improved individual times in London and for a semi-final position for a female team in 2020. The sense of possibility and purpose is imbued in athletes such as Arkaji.

"I'm sure I'm going to be in the 2020 Olympics. I will have a lot of time to train for it, so I will have a better advantage than the Olympics 2012. That's the next goal definitely," she said.

"Hopefully by then there will be more girls participating in sports. Because Qatar provides all the facilities, so we've got all the potential and determination to promote female sports."

As she leaves the pool for another day, Arkaji continues on her rising and unexpected course. And, despite the diminutive stature of both her and her country, the confidence of each will seemingly continue to build - always with an eye on the gold.

Follow Rhodri Davies on Twitter: @rhodrirdavies

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/05/201252613532359412.html