Under the watchful eye of her father, Retaj al-Sayeh practiced discus throws near the edge of a dilapidated running track at Tripoli Sports City.
Despite injury, a patriarchal society uninterested in women’s sport and disruption from Libya’s chronic insecurity, al-Sayeh has set her sights on this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
She has won numerous national and continental medals from a young age, and although al-Sayeh is yet to reach the standards required to qualify for the Olympics, the 23-year-old remains unbowed.
“I believe in my own abilities ... which will take me to the top,” she said confidently as she warmed up.
The country has been devastated by fratricidal violence since the 2011 revolution that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, while there is little funding for, or interest in, women’s sport.
“I challenge myself ... despite the adversities and difficulties in Libya, but above all the lack of resources,” she said.
Rain or shine, she has been training relentlessly in an abandoned area of Sports City strewn with debris, under the proud gaze of her father, who coaches her.
Once done with her warm-up and after a moment of stillness, she whirled in circles and hurled the discus, which lands a few dozen meters away to applause from her father.
Al-Sayeh is set to participate in a competition in the United Arab Emirates next month, then in June at the African Championships in Athletics in Cameroon, where she hopes to break her personal record of 57m.
To qualify for Paris, she must hit a minimum distance of 64.5m. The bronze medal-winning throw at Tokyo 2020 was 65.72m.
As a child, al-Sayeh showed promise in a discipline that traces its origins to the ancient Greek Olympics and requires strength, technique and endurance.
At age 10, she won her primary schools discus competition, and by the time she was 12 she had a bronze medal from her first international competition in Qatar.
Her father, Salem al-Sayeh, a former volleyball player and captain of the Libyan national team in 1982, has been ever-present in her career.
“My father believed in my abilities and constantly supported me,” she said, sitting next to him by the running track.
“He always devoted his time, his financial support and his energy to me even when I almost threw in the towel,” she said. “He kept telling me that I was a budding Olympic champion and that nothing should lessen my determination.”
Despite a lack of resources, her 60-year-old father is bent on persevering alongside her, convinced that she can compete at a higher level.
“My family and I will continue to support Retaj despite limited resources because she has tremendous potential to establish herself internationally,” Salem al-Sayeh said.
His daughter, who has just recovered from back surgery, said she was up for the challenge despite years of uncertainty.
“In 2016, I went through a difficult time that made me think about retiring,” she said. “Because of the war, I could not get a visa to participate in the Junior World Championship in Poland. I was very sad because I was convinced that I could win gold. I was at the peak of my abilities.”
She was persuaded by her loved ones and fellow Libyan athletes to change her mind and went on to win a silver medal at the African Championships in Algeria in 2017.
“Thanks to God, my Olympic dream will become reality,” Retaj al-Sayeh said, as she embraced her father.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their