For Alia Saeed, being a role model does not come easy.
But as the painfully shy UAE runner prepares for tomorrow’s Dubai Holding Women’s Run, that is exactly what she has become for women’s athletics in the country.
The Ethiopian-born Saeed won the gold medal in the 10,000m at the Asian Games in Incheon in September, the crowning achievement of her career so far.
“I was so happy,” she said. “Before that, I had it in my mind that I have to win this race. My coach had told me ‘you have to win this’. I said ok, I will win.”
Saeed has been training with the UAE Athletics Federation for four years now, and the hard work is starting to bear results.
“When I got there, I was confident,” the 23-year-old said. “I had trained well at our training camp in Barcelona. All the time my coach kept pushing me, to do my best at the Asian Games.”
That she did, her performance easily the most outstanding by an Emirati across all the events.
“For me, it was the best race of my life,” said Saeed. “I even had the best time, everything was great.”
Modestly, she points out that her world ranking had gone up to ninth. Now, the big targets are getting closer.
“Inshallah, I can make the Olympics,” she said. “But first I’m looking forward to the World Championship 2015, I will continue to do my best.”
The UAE Athletics Federation president Ahmad Al Kamali has little doubts of her value to women’s sports in this country, and speaks of Saeed with almost paternal pride.
“That 10,000 race, I’ve watched it maybe seven or eight times,” he said of her win in Incheon. “For me, it’s one of the most wonderful races I’ve ever seen. Alia is one of the best 10 runners in the world this year. This is a source of pride for us.”
Al Kamali is keen to highlight the hard work Saeed has put in to get to where she is today.
“We trained Alia from scratch really,” he said. “Many people said she was ready when we took her on.
“That’s not true, when we started her training, she was in the top 500 runners, now she has reached ninth. She put in so much effort, and was supported by the Athletics Federation, as well as Dubai Sports Council and the National Olympic Committee.”
The level of support will be raised in the next two years, with the 2015 Athletics World Championship in Beijing and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio now realistic targets.
“We hope to prepare her well enough, in an efficient way, so that at least she can challenge for a place on the podium,” Al Kamali said.
He is hoping that Saeed’s example will attract more women and girls to the track.
“Alia is a great role model, she has encouraged girls to take part,” he said.
“In the past, we had very few Emirati women in athletics, but today after her achievements, we have almost 300 taking part.”
It is a number that will continue to grow rapidly, according to Al Kamali.
“In the next few years, our target is to get to 1000 female athletes,” he said. “We hope to start a tradition of women in athletics, and this is the beginning.”
Saeed herself is looking forward only to tomorrow’s race, and she dismissed the suggestion that she is almost certain to win.
“We don’t know that,” she says, laughing. “In sport, one day you are up and one day you are down.”
This will be her third Women’s Run, having taken part in 2011 and 2012.
Both years, it was her training partner Bethlem Desaleyn who finished first. Tomorrow, she will once again attempt to finish ahead of her close friend Saeed.
“We’ve been training together for four years now, and every year we’re getting better and better,” Desaleyn, 22, said of their combined progress.
“Last year was the best year of my life. We got gold at the Asian and Arab games. We’re happy about that.”
Last year, Desaleyn won gold in the 5000m at the Arab Athletics Championship and two golds (1,500m, 5000m) at the Asian Athletics Championships in India, where Saeed won the 10,000m gold.
Like her partner, she is setting a pace for others to follow.
“I think women in the UAE are getting more motivated,” she added.
“Seeing me and my friend [Saeed] encourages them. [Al Kamali] and this race’s organisers have also worked really hard to motivate women in country. Last year I think there were 50 local girls running, this year there is 100. Every year it’s getting better.”
akhaled@thenational.ae
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