4 Inspiring Olympic Women

Of course I'm rooting for Team USA during the Olympics, but some athletes with the most incredible stories come from other parts of the world. Sometimes I want these underdogs to win--even though they've probably trained just as much as all the other competitors, they've undergone more personal struggles.


Since this year's Olympics are being called "The Year of the Women", I've highlighted some great women athletes who are competing from all around the world.


1. Zoe Smith, Team Great Britain, Weightlifting

Link to article

Smith is a British teenager who has been targeted and bullied on Twitter because of her "manly" choice of Olympic sport. She has eloquently replied to the bullying tweets, but opens up in the article about issues women weightlifters like herself have faced since the beginning of the event in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.


2. Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, Team Malaysia, Shooting

Link to article

Nur Suryani is the Olympic's first women to be eight months pregnant during the games. Even though her sport is shooting and puts her in little danger of hurting her baby, she has received harsh criticism from others telling her she is selfish for jeopardizing her child's health. Nur Suryani strongly fights back her critics by saying that, as the mother of her child, no one else should be telling her what to do.


3. Wojdan Shaherkani, Team Saudi Arabia, Judo

No photo--picture found here

Link to article

Shaherkani is part of the history-making Saudi Arabia team, which for the first time allowed women to compete. At the time of writing, she is facing problems with the Judo federation, who will not allow her to compete unless she removes her hijab for the event. This contradicts the statement they made earlier this summer, saying she could wear the hijab and wouldn't have to mix with men for the competition.

4. Tahmina Kohistani, Team Afghanistan, Track & Field

Link to article

In the article, Kohistani talks about the problems she faced trying to train for the Olympics back in her home country of Afghanistan, where women aren't very well accepted as athletes. She was heavily criticized by crowds of men and women catcalling and yelling at her whenever she practiced at Kabul Stadium back home. Instead of backing down, she continued training and made it to the Olympics.


Have you all seen any inspiring women or heard any great stories from the Olympics so far?


P.S. Is anybody having trouble avoiding spoilers about the Olympics? I swear, I try my hardest not to see the results of the events that haven't aired on NBC yet, but they end up being plastered everywhere without any spoiler warnings, even on major American news sites. Oh, tape delay...