Emirati Zahra Larry spent 12 years on ice. She started skiing since she was 12 years old. She fell in love with this sport, trained in it, and broke all the barriers related to customs and traditions, especially with regard to her clothes, as her father was initially opposed to her professionalism in the field. But later she achieved many titles in international competitions, and her father established a skiing center, through which she works today to train beginners, with the aim of developing Emirati talents in this field, and leaving those who can follow the march in skiing, so that she is not the only Emirati in the field. Larry told Emirates Today: “My career is long with skiing. I have spent so far half of my life on the skin, and the number of hours I have been through is too many, but I started in the field of skiing as a hobby, and with time the hobby grew until I reached the stage of competition in international competitions And I achieved distinguished results, but I am currently thinking about how to change people's thinking about this sport, especially in Arab society. ” She pointed out that the specificity of culture and customs in the Emirates made her face a lot of problems in the beginning, regarding the clothing of this sport, noting that the clothes for this sport are due to the importance of not hitting the skater during jumps and transfers, because this sport carries a lot of risks, especially the shoe Because the metal at the bottom of the shoe is like a sharp knife, and therefore falls risk a lot.
Hobby and professionalism
In its beginnings with skiing, it was easy for Larry’s people to accept the practice of this hobby, but moving from the hobby field to competing in world championships was not easy to accept by her father in the beginning. Larry said: “I was 15 years old, when I wanted to participate in The first competition, and my father said that he prefers to practice this sport as a hobby and not as a professional, and we went to attend competitions and support my friends, and then my father saw my sadness that I am not among the participants, and he was convinced that I could practice this sport as a professional, and I started participating in various competitions ». After going a long way in the field of skiing, Larry's father opened a ski club, and he brought in the best coaches for them to reach important stages in the practice of this sport, and enjoyed great support, as there is a large group of trainees in the club.
Special schedule
Larry sets a special schedule for training, and he follows the season for games and competitions. In the summer, exercise hours are more than winter, and during the competitions, the training is shorter but more severe. On the snow, it runs for three hours, while doing other exercises outside the ice for two hours. , Which means that the total hours of exercise are long. She noted that today after she finished her studies in Environmental Health and Safety from Abu Dhabi University, she became more dedicated to exercises and skiing, especially as she is trained in skiing. She made it clear that she would work in her field of study while preserving exercises and exercises, especially that the professional career in sport is not long. At the end of the twenties, skiers stop in this sport, explaining that this sport affects a lot in the body, because the skater falls a lot, and that spinning three times and landing On one foot they make the body weight eight times the real weight, and this puts pressure on the skater. She explained that she will work hard to maintain the presence of this sport in the Emirates and to encourage Emiratis to ski. And about the ideal age to start sports, Larry confirmed that he prefers starting from the age of three to four years, because a person needs 10 years to learn it well and its performance becomes excellent, and the smaller the child the learning becomes easier, noting the tendency of girls to ski more than males, because it Contains ballet dancing skills.
Challenges
Skateboarding challenges are many, Larry summarizes them in the long hours of training, because the skater is subject to two types of exercises, namely skiing, ballet, and softness, strength and flexibility. She pointed out that falling a lot and great injuries add to the challenges, as each skater has a specialist in physical therapy, in order to assure him of the possibility of participation. The skater feels awe in the ring in front of thousands of viewers.
As for the dress, she pointed out that she is the only skier who was participating abroad with the wearing of the veil, so that she was exposed in one of the competitions in 2012 to deducting one of her marks because of her clothes, as it was the first time that they saw a contestant wearing the veil. Larry then worked on discussing the committee, and after discussions she managed to eliminate the existence of such an order in the future with veiled women.
Larry participated in the Winter Olympics of universities in Russia, and did not achieve the title in it, but it is one of the dear tournaments dear to her heart, after she achieved many titles and gold and silver medals in other competitions, she is proud of this participation, being the first Emirati to raise the UAE flag in Russia.
Special designs
Flower Larry chooses different designs for skis, especially that she wears the veil, so she does not wear the familiar clothes that we see in this sport, and she hired more than one designer, including Jean Long Mayer, noting that in the competitions she is keen that the dress not be wide, so that she can show All her skills before the committee. It is reported that Zahra Larry participated in the advertising campaign, which was carried out by "Nike" to launch new clothes for swimming, and indicated that she is swimming a lot after training, because the muscles are tired, and swimming relieves these muscles from exhaustion.
- This sport holds a lot of risk, especially the shoe, because the metal is located below a steep Chalskan.
- The peculiarity of culture and customs in the Emirates made me face problems related to the quality of the clothes of this sport.