Paris Olympics Showcase Young Arab Women’s Talent

Olympic swimmer Maha Alshehhi tells The Media Line she was the first female Emirati swimmer her swim instructor had even seen

The Paris Olympics start this Friday, with 88 Israeli athletes set to compete in the Games. At an event meant to highlight global camaraderie, the atmosphere for Israeli athletes is tense.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) weighed a Palestinian call to ban Israeli athletes from the Games. Representatives from the Palestinian Olympic Committee called the bombing of Gaza a breach of the Olympic truce and claimed that 400 Palestinian athletes had been killed in recent months.

The IOC rejected the request. Due to the potential hostility around Israel’s participation, security at the Games will be increased.

Although tensions around the participation of Israeli athletes are high, the Olympics remains an occasion for young athletes from around the world to honor their countries and promote friendly competition.

The Media Line spoke to two young Arab women, Amani Alobaidli and Maha Alshehhi, who are representing Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, respectively, in this year’s Games.

Alobaidli, who is half Australian and half Bahraini, has been swimming since she was less than a year old. After moving to Australia at age 9, she quickly began competing in national youth championships.

Amani Alobaidli (Courtesy)

“When I turned 16, my father was contacted by Ahmed Abdul Ghaffar, who is the current executive director of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, asked me if I could represent Bahrain,” Alobaidli told The Media Line.

She is excited to be a role model not just for her country but for Arab girls from all over. Seeing many Arab women competitors here makes my heart full and proud.

I really hope to stand as an acting role model to the younger generations of Arab girls, to show that they can do anything no matter how big or small their goals are, they will manage to accomplish them. 

“I really hope to stand as an acting role model to the younger generations of Arab girls, to show that they can do anything no matter how big or small their goals are, they will manage to accomplish them,” she said. “Seeing many Arab women competitors here makes my heart full and proud.”

Amani Alobaidli (Courtesy)

Alobaidli said Bahrain has been supportive of women athletes. Nine out of the 14 athletes representing Bahrain at the Olympics this year are women.

Despite being a small team, we are very strong and united. Our country supports us, and we feel the duty to represent it in the best way possible.

“Despite being a small team, we are very strong and united,” Alobaidli said. “Our country supports us, and we feel the duty to represent it in the best way possible.”

For Maha Alshehhi, an 18-year-old half-Polish and half-Emirati swimmer, being an Arab woman athlete has not always been seen as appropriate. She told The Media Line that when she was in third grade, a swimming instructor told her and her sister that they were the first Emirati girls he had ever seen swim.

Maha Alshehhi (Courtesy)

“Our country has made huge improvements in the last years in supporting women in sports,” she said. “Six years ago, I recall that they didn’t allow us to use the pool because we were women. Today is not the case at all. [UAE Prime Minister] Sheikh Mohammed [bin Rashid Al Maktoum] told us that everyone has the right to do the sport they want to.”

Alshehhi’s team won third place in an Arab competition in Morocco in 2019.

“Without the support of my parents, I wouldn’t have done it up to this day,” she said. “Hopefully, also my sisters will join the Olympics with me in 2028.”

Few Emirati women swimmers have made it to the Olympics. Nada Al-Bedwawi was the first Emirati woman to swim in the Olympics in 2016.

It is a huge honor to compete for my country as one of the few women swimmers in its entire history at the Olympics. It is a lot of pressure as well, but it is all worth it. Seeing women competing from different Arab countries is a thing to be proud of as well. We are all making history.

“It is a huge honor to compete for my country as one of the few women swimmers in its entire history at the Olympics,” Alshehhi said. “It is a lot of pressure as well, but it is all worth it. Seeing women competing from different Arab countries is a thing to be proud of as well. We are all making history.”

Giorgia Valente is a recent graduate of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.