Most sports fans don’t care about race or religion. They simply want to see the best in action.
“No matter what you do in life there’s always going to be people criticising you. Just surround yourself with a good team and your family and you’ll definitely succeed.”
These are the words of Zahra Lari a figure skater.
Zahra was born in Abu Dhabi in March 1995. She grew up in the United Arab Emirates. At the age of 12 she watched the movie, Ice Princess. Like many young children after seeing that film she begged her mum to allow her to skate. However her mum was worried she would hurt herself, so she went to her dad. She had no ambitions then, she just wanted to skate.
If she had had at that point in time ambitions to compete at the highest level no doubt many would have told her it was impossible. She had started too late. Most of the top international skaters start when the are four or five years old, some even younger.
In addition Zahra comes from the UAE, a land of desert. Not one famed for snow and ice.
Then if it was the three strike rule, she ran the risk of having her dreams rubbed out completely simply because of her sex. In this part of the world women are not encouraged to take up sport.
At the age of 13 Zahra started to learn to skate. Her mother who hails from North Carolina and had converted to Islam prior to meeting her Emirati father at a university in Atlanta, Georgia had overcome that initial fear of injury and now along with her father gave her support.
Her father was happy for her to skate and have fun, but when she said that she wanted compete he was not so keen. No doubt he was concerned about how she would be received by the public in such a judgemental world. He was eventually won over by her passion for the sport.
In 2012 a Romanian coach saw her perform and encouraged her to compete in Europe. This was a crucial moment in her young career and one that would see Zahra take her talent to the next level.
She made her junior international debut in the 2011-12 season at the European Cup in Canazei, Italy. Immediately she was thrust into the spotlight as she received a deduction in marks on her routine due to her headscarf. It was not an approved part of the costume.
However, she was not going to accept this. After taking up the issue with the International Skating Union the rules were changed allowing for headscarves to be worn in competition.
In 2014-15 Lari began competing at the senior level and placed 4th at the FBMA Trophy which has been her best finish to date.
Although she has yet to win medals outside of the UAE she has broken down barriers. She created a number of firsts, including being the first UAE figure skater to compete internationally. She was the first female skater to wear a hijab before a panel of international judges. She has been an ambassador for Nike’s pro-hijab campaign and also an ambassador for Red Bull. In 2019 Lari competed at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia and became the first Emirati to compete in the Winter Universiade.
There is a documentary believed to be called Ice Princess after the film that inspired her to skate in production and due for release soon. The focus of the film is Zahra’s impact on women and sport in the Middle East and far beyond.
As Zahra said last year at the Winter Universiade “It’s just me trying to show the world that, yes I am covered, but I can [still] do what I love and do it at an international level. So that’s the main message that I’m trying to send to girls, don’t let anything stop you from doing what you love and especially because you’re covered.”
However she still has other dreams to fulfil…
