As part of its “Inner Strength” documentary series, Nike has tapped Amna Al Haddad to tell her compelling story on becoming a competitive weightlifter. Born in United Arab Emirates, Haddad was a journalist, who was admittedly depressed and “a few pounds overweight.” She woke up and decided it was time to make a change, saying, “I said to myself, ‘Go and do something. Go for a walk.’ And that’s what I did. I went for a walk and that changed my life. From there, I started going to the gym normally and then I got into CrossFit, which changed my view of strength sports for women, and I just fell in love with weightlifting.”
Haddad eventually began to compete and traveled to United States for her first event in Columbus, Ohio, where she met her future coach, who encouraged her to move to Akron, Ohio, where he trained. Haddad suffered a back injury last summer, but is working towards qualifying for the summer Olympics in Brazil as a member of the UAE team. Within the video, Haddad discusses the challenges of blazing paths as a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, explaining, “I’m someone who broke a lot of barriers for Muslim women. There’s a lot of resistance and rejection but when that is happening you know you are tapping on something that is untouched, and that is where you start to pave a path for others. It’s what pushes me.”
