Saudi woman rock-climbing instructor hopes to scale Olympic heights

Arab News
January 24, 2018

Jeddah, Jan 24: Yasmin Gahtani, the mother of two who became the first female Saudi certified rock-climbing instructor, now has another dream — to take part in the Tokyo 2020 Games.

She hopes she can raise the Saudi flag and inspire Saudis to participate in the Olympics. “This will make me proud that I was somehow involved in making them rock climbers, especially my own twin sons.”

Gahtani began to go rock climbing five years ago after she felt there was much more to live for than what she was doing.

The extreme sport fanatic says she was always a curious and experimental person, so she decided to get into a sport that would be highly challenging. Although she tried different sports, she found herself in the activity after a friend persuaded her to try climbing rocks – something she fell in love with immediately.

Speaking to Arab News, Gahtani said she started rock climbing five years ago when she decided to change her daily routine life of comfort.

The hardest part at the beginning was to trust herself and what her body could do on the wall. She was always, as she said, “an insecure and self-conscious person.” However, she managed to break out of those feelings and believe in herself, and finally lived the excitement of the adrenaline rush.

Another difficult issue was that climbing was a sport most people around her had never heard of. To tell her friends and family that she was practicing a sport they could only imagine would be for males was also a challenge. However, Gahtani was very grateful and impressed by how much everyone was highly supportive of her passion for a dangerous activity.

After her first dream had come true, Gahtani started thinking of living another — to become an instructor.

“After seeing how many Saudis were getting more and more curious about the sport that I was practicing, I started thinking about becoming a certified rock climbing instructor, to help greenhorns climb safely,” she said.

Last year, the ambitious Gahtani took her Climbing Wall instructor course in Chiacago through the American Mountain Guides Association.

The instructor told Arab News that her parents had spared no efforts to support her from the very beginning. “They have noticed the positive impact that my new hobby had left on me. Therefore, they became more encouraging. My twin boys have also become rock climbers and want to take up this sport professionally one day.”

She encounters no negative response when she introduces herself as a rock climber. “In fact, people are very happy for me, and proud that I found something I have passion for. Saudis are my biggest fans and they really show that to me. I am very lucky and grateful to them.”

She said many Saudi women, especially those in their twenties, are interested in engaging in activities practiced in inhospitable environments. “They are ready to take a challenge to prove to themselves and the people around them that the Saudi woman is strong regardless of the reputation that she is soft and cannot reach high levels.”

Gahtani’s activity seems to be uninterrupted as she still plans to improve her rock climbing skills to become even better at the sport.

“I see myself as having a long journey ahead of me that I will enjoy every second of. My dream also is to see more Saudis, regardless of their gender, take part in this sport. That will teach the youngsters a lot about physical and mental challenges,” she said.

Gahtani pointed out that the General Sports Authority has been keen to support community sports in recent years in Saudi Arabia, and the establishing of a climbing federation is a huge step that is hoped will back both rock climbers and instructors so that this sport becomes more accessible and more visible.

For nearly a year, the certified instructor has been giving climbing courses to a “good enough number” of females. “I am proud of my new climbers for encouraging their friends to try it, too,” she said.

Gahtani said there are many good locations in Saudi Arabia that can, one day, be world-class destinations. “We have so many attractive places in Abha, Al-Ula, and Al-Baha, but we need more work to create more routes on these naturally perfect climbing walls to pave the way for people to climb them. Funded projects need to be considered to make it happen.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 23,2020

New Delhi, Jul 23: With one year to go for the Olympic Games to begin in Tokyo on July 23, 2021, Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal on Thursday said the side has performed well against top teams in recent times and can do the same at the Olympics.

The Indian team has competed well against top teams in the recent past and has registered memorable victories at the FIH Series Finals and the FIH Olympic Qualifiers last year.

"We have competed against top teams in the recent past and we have shown that our team has the capability of winning a medal and making our country proud at the Olympics. We have a good group of experienced players, who are guiding the junior players very well. Our team has been getting better with each tournament we have played and we will definitely improve our game even further in the next one year," said the 25-year-old said in a statement.

Speaking about her participation at the Olympics, Rani said that the experience will help her make better decisions at the Tokyo Olympics.

"It was great to be a part of the Olympics in Rio. We made history by qualifying for the tournament after 36 years. It was a great feeling to be playing at the biggest of stages. Even though we didn't register the best of results, I have certainly learned a lot by playing the Olympic Games matches in 2016. I am sure all the players, who played in the 2016 Olympics, will make much better decisions on the pitch at the Tokyo Olympics, based on their experience in Rio," she said.

The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021, while the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5, 2021.  

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.