Kulsoom Abdullah, Pakistani- American, has been weightlifting at both national and international level since 2010, but what is most interesting about her is that the lady is always sighted with hijab even though lifting enormous weights.
Born and grew up in US to Pakistani parents. Kulsoom is the eldest of her siblings, a computer engineer by profession with a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Kulsoom Abdullah participated in the US National Competition in 2011, and in the same year she represented Pakistan at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships. For the latter, Kulsoom Abdullah was not only the first woman ever to compete, she was also the first woman ever to compete in hijab. She represented Pakistan in South Korea at the 2012 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
In 2010, after qualifying to compete at the American Open, the USA Weightlifting Committee barred Kulsoom from contending because of her clothing - clothing modifications were simply not allowed.
Participants had to adhere to wearing a 'singlet' - particular clothing for athletes which sort of looks like a swimsuit with shorts. Kulsoom training was affected from January to May 2011. After consulting lawyers and civil rights groups, she was "encouraged" to "keep trying to find a way."
Eventually in June 2011, CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) found out about her story and issued a press release asking the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) to help Kulsoom Abdullah compete in her hijab. Luckily, a USOC representative, also part of the IWF, forwarded the story to the IWF, which they, as Kulsoom Abdullah states, "agreed to discuss at their next meeting."
By end June, the IWF finally issued an official press release in which they permitted a full body 'unitard' and a head scarf. Kulsoom Abdullah had triumphed.
An Inspiring Personality- Kulsoom Abdullah, Pakistani- American
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