Arab Women Trailblazers

A whole generation of girls in the Arab world are desirous to emulate women sports stars if given a conducive environment. The wave of women empowerment is sweeping across the Arab world and sports is no exception. The stereotype of a typical Arab women is being challenged by the new generation of Arab females who have exposure to Western cultures and the world through the internet as well. However the Arab female guards her Arab identity and cultural ties jealously and weathers it out in  the Western media and society.Usually Arab players retain their conservative attire in the sports arena and off court as well. A case in point is the bold Egyptian competitive swimmer Farida Hisham Osman. She has the distinction of being an All-Africa Games gold medalist and Egypt’s national champion and record-holder. Osman has been the fastest female in the pool in Egypt and Africa with a large population.

Credit Arab America

Sarah Attar  was born in California,USA .Sarah is a dual citizen of USA and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Her mother is an American citizen. She was the first Saudi American track and field athlete  to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is consistent in wearing the Hijab (headscarf) which she says depicts her Arab culture which she is proud of.Sarah has shed the image of Saudi women being consigned to the house.

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Mahassen Hala was the first woman to represent Lebanon in Olympic weightlifting and in numerous other international competitions. She represented Lebanon at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and earned the first international medal for Lebanon in women’s Olympic weightlifting. Mahassen Hala Mohammed Fattouh was born in Florida, USA. She is part of the Lebanese diaspora and many of her cousins live in Lebanon. Away from the gym Mahassen has a soft and demure aspect to her personality as well.

Credit Vogue Arabia

Credit About Her

Ons Jabeur is a Tunisian professional tennis player who reached a career-high ranking of world No 2.She was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022. Her international tennis stature and success has excited Arab girls who consider her as a trailblazer and has a Instagram following of 856,000.Her husband is a Russian-Tunisian former fencer whom Ons married at a typically young age as most Arab girls tie the knot early.Her husband is 8 years older then her which is a common phenomena in the Arab world.

Credit Tennis.com

 

Credit First Sportz

 

Raneem El Welily who hails from Egypt has been dominating squash.

Raneem El Welily reached a career-high world ranking of No. 1 in September 2015. She was a finalist at the World Open in 2014 and 2016 and became World Champion in 2017.Raneem retired from squash at the peak of her career as she was expecting. Some say it is typical of Arab culture that family takes precedence over careers.The decision was sweet for her and not bitter as she wants to be a mom.She feels it is unlikely she will be able to stage a comeback even if she wanted to. Male players are advantaged in that the mother is more of a companion and can attend to the children.