What is equally extraordinary is that until last December, Lolwa had no idea what a triathlon event is all about, she didn’t know how to swim at all and she didn’t have a bike
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At the moment, the eyes of the whole world are upon Qatari star Triathlon athlete Lolwa Almaari, who recently won the Ironman Hamburg title. But what makes this athlete’s achievement something that is beyond words, is the fact that she’s a woman – the first ever Qatari woman to complete a full distance triathlon. So now they address her as : “The First Qatari Ironwoman”, a report in The Peninsula, Doha, says.
What is equally extraordinary is that until last December, Lolwa had no idea what a triathlon event is all about, she didn’t know how to swim at all and she didn’t have a bike. And yet on August 29, she swam 3.8 kilomeres, cycled for another gruelling 108-km and then finally topped it off with a marathon run, which is usually of 42 kms.
She now looks forward to the Qatar National Triathlon Series that starts on October 30,
In the end the grueling toil, sweat and pain of muscle and bone is all forgotten, swiftly replaced by this overriding sense of elation and relief, as she crosses the finish line and hears the announcement over the public address system that she’s just become the new Hamburg Ironman. The announcement was repeated a couple of times: “You are an Ironman”
From start to finish, a first Iron distance is a memory for life in any triathlete’s career. But Lolwa’s motivation goes far deeper than just the challenge of competition and winning.
Her message, not just for Qatari women but for anyone seeking a challenge in Life is: “You will never be ready. Don’t wait for the right moment. Take your caffeine and train!”
At the core of her being was something deeper: To publically define what it means to be a Qatari woman. The very strength of Ironman’s brand and appeal, made it her chosen vehicle to make her case and prove her point.
Later, in a more composed and relaxed frame of mind, the young student of medicine at a UK University and the mother of a little girl says: “I’m doing this for my daughter. I want her to see me as something more than a career person and a mother”.
But at the same time Lolwa talks about the concerns her family had when she set out to fulfill an impossible dream. “My mother would worry about my skin becoming dark, but I have done this and I am still a normal woman. I am still feminine.”
Once her objective was determined, the next thing to do was find herself a coach.
Doha-based coach Gerda Dumitru didn’t take too long to see the star potential inside Lolwa – just three meetings. In the beginning she had her doubts, “about how to transform someone who struggled to swim the length of a pool into someone who could navigate 3.8 kilometres in open waters, let alone the rest.
Gerda recalls, “I warned her, ‘This is not a joke, this is high risk, it’s not a joke’, but she had this fire in her eyes, and it convinced me.”. But admittedly it was a mammoth challenge for the coach. Lolwa wasn’t a triathlete at all– a cross-fitter, a mountain walker but not a triathlete. She did short runs but didn’t swim or own a bicycle.
It took three meetings with Doha-based coach, Gerda Dumitru, to convince her to support the mammoth task of turning someone who struggled to swim the length of a pool into someone who could navigate 3.8 kilometres in open waters.
Gerda recalls, “I warned her, ‘This is not a joke, this is high risk, it’s not a joke’, but she had this fire in her eyes, and it convinced me.”
As the two began to work and train together, the relationship developed with both athlete and coach learning from each other. Some days Gerda would question why she hadn’t completed the five hours of practice session and Lolwa would defiantly reply, “When? I work in a lab in Hamad hospital during a pandemic. When could I do this?”
But the worst is behind her now. Nobody remembers the hurt, only the joy. Lolwa wanted to inspire her peers and has no doubt achieved that. Her message, not just for Qatari women but for anyone seeking a challenge in Life: “You will never be ready. Don’t wait for the right moment. Take your caffeine and train!”
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