Dubai's female sport stars

From Olympic weightlifters to pro cyclists, meet the women making waves on the UAE’s sporting scene

Amna Al Haddad
Country: UAE
Age: 24
Sport: Olympic Weightlifting

Amna started weightlifting in October 2012 and last year made history by becoming the first Emirati to officially represent the UAE in the sport in three international championships. She is currently training to represent the country in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics and, according to her Twitter profile, eats steak for breakfast.

Martine Kerr
Country: Canada
Age: 46
Sport: Ice Hockey

With more than 18 years’ experience in the fitness industry, Martine has numerous qualifications including being a Vinyasa yoga-, TRX- and ACE-certified instructor. She is currently a forward on the Dubai Gazelles women’s ice hockey team.

Charlotte Mathers
Country: England
Age: 29
Sport: Gymnastics

Among other things, Charlotte is a qualified CrossFit, yoga and Les Mills instructor. She competed in the 2012 and 2013 Dubai Fitness Championships, before coming first place in numerous weekly challenges during the 2014 edition of the event.

Helle Bachofenvon Echt
Country: Denmark
Age: 35
Sport: Road Cycling

Despite having only taken up cycling seriously less than a year ago, Helle was the first UAE resident to compete in a UCI World Cycling Tour event when she raced in Slovenia in August. She rides regularly with Dubai’s Revolution Cycles and is a member of female cycling team Revolution Love Catz.

Maria Markovicova
Country: Slovakia
Age: 27
Sport: Stand-up Paddleboarding

Competition winner, Maria is a seasoned paddleboarder and has competed in numerous triathlons.

Svetlana Blazevic
Country: Serbia
Age: 34
Sport: Ironman

A professional traithlete with impressive records, Svetlana has competed in numerous international Ironman challenges, plus local competitions such as the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon.

Nadine du Toit
Country: South Africa
Age: 34
Sport: Mountain Biking

It’s barely been five years since Nadine went from an air hostess to a keen all-round athlete. Today, the founder of GloryGirl Fitness is also a keen bodybuilding and fitness competitor, where she has won a handful of international contests.

Francesca Carlson
Country: British
Age: 27
Sports: Aerial Artist and Performer

A personal trainer and group exercise instructor, Francesca’s specialist sport is pole fitness. She’s also an expert in strength training.

Maira Lorena Melara Rivas
Country: El Salvador
Age: 30
Sport: Zumba Toning/Konga Fitness

Maira is one of Dubai’s leading Zumba instructors. She’s also the UAE Konga Fitness Ambassador, a personal trainer and impressive performer.

Marianne Argy
Country: Australia
Age: 31
Sport: MMA Fighting/Muay Thai

As well as an accomplished MMA instructor, Marianne is also a TV presenter, swimwear designer and mum. You may also know her as Maz Fade, wife of Virgin Radio’s Kris Fade.

Inger Houghton
Country: Norway
Age: 29
Sport: Fitness

A proficient personal trainer, Inger is also a nutritionist at Scandinavian Health & Performance, which she runs with her partner.

Eva Clarke
Country: Australia
Age: 34
Sport: Brazilian jiu jitsu

The UAE’s fittest woman, Eva broke the world record for the most knuckle push-ups in 24 hours earlier this year, with a total 9,241, destroying the previous record of 7,000.

Rachel Sherriff
Country: Australian
Age: 36
Sport: Surfing

A seriously accomplished Aussie shortboard surfer, Rachel has competed in numerous competitions, including Wadi Adventure’s Volcom Jam.

Krystal Winsloe
Country: New Zealand
Age: 29
Sport: Rugby

Sportswoman Krystal has competed in numerous welterweight boxing categories, and also starred in Dubai’s popular annual White Collar Boxing competition.

Reyhana Sallie
Country: South Africa
Age: 34
Sport: CrossFit

A competitive figure skater from the age of nine, a track athlete, softball player, mountain biker and cyclist, today, Reyhana a CrossFit professional and personal trainer.