When she stepped on to the platform amid enthusiastic cheers from her supporters, Lebanese powerlifter Joya Khairallah, 22, was faced with a steel bar loaded with several red plates weighing an impressive total of 183.5kg.
This was an immense challenge for the young woman, weighing only 52kg, but she had to overcome it if she wanted to claim first-place at the 2023 International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Junior Championships.
No one in her category had ever accomplished this feat, until August 29 in Cluj-Napoca in Romania, when Miss Khairallah firmly grasped the heavy bar and pulled it from the ground level to her hips, a movement called a “deadlift” - one of three lifts performed in powerlifting.
A lot of people said I shouldn't lift weights because having a lot of muscles doesn't look beautiful on a girl. I enjoy proving people wrong
Joya Khairallah
When she reached the lockout position, marking the end of the movement, she screamed in triumph and knelt to the floor, having just broken the world record.
“After stepping on to the platform, I initially had doubts because I was exhausted, and my back was hurting, but I persevered, I got it and I won,” she told The National in Beirut during her first training session, a few days after the international competition.
“There's no actual word that really describes how I felt. It feels wonderful, but I'm still a bit in denial,” she added.
The Lebanese champion achieved a total of 428.5kg for the three lifts (bench, squat, and deadlift), setting yet another IPF Junior World Record in her weight class.
This exceptional performance earned Khairallah a gold medal in the competition for Lebanon.
The country has been grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis for four years and had made the headlines for its shortages of basic goods, and numerous corruption cases.
But this time, the country has been celebrating athletic achievements.
“It's a big honour for me to represent Lebanon, I raised the flag high. I hope I could give hope to people, even though we're going through a lot in Lebanon,” Khairallah said, sporting a small Lebanese flag painted on one of her nails.
Another Lebanese powerlifter, Etienne El Chaer, 22, set two world records in the Junior's under 120kg category and claiming gold at the same competition.
'Women can be powerful, just like men'
Khairallah's journey has not been easy.
Born in Beirut, the young woman started training in high school five years ago.
As she dedicated more time to her passion, she met significant resistance.
Powerlifting is generally labelled as a man's sport and Khairallah had to challenge deeply ingrained gender stereotypes within Lebanese society.
“I met a lot of people who said that I shouldn't lift weights because it's a sport for men and that having a lot of muscles doesn't look beautiful on a girl and that it takes away some of our femininity”, she said, with her carefully curled dark hair flowing down her shoulders.
She recalls with a laugh that her mother once told her not to wear a dress at her sister's wedding because she had become too muscular.
But she persevered.
“I enjoy proving people wrong, and I love doing what I'm passionate about. Women can be powerful, just like men, and it's an incredible feeling,” she said.
After high school, she trained hard to become a certified coach. Her parents, although unfamiliar with the sport, eventually supported her.
She now works as a personal trainer and runs a home-made peanut butter business called “Joya the Ant Peanut Butter”.
She said that her accomplishments have required many “sacrifices,” such as strict dietary discipline, rigorous training, and missing out on nights out and weekends with her family.
But her dedication is paying off. She has participated in five international competitions over the past five years, including two world championships, and secured a silver medal in the 2022 event.
But being an athlete in Lebanon comes with many financial challenges.
The Lebanese champion says special athletes' food, membership fees, dedicated equipment, and travel expenses to competitions are all costly.
“So, they really do add up, and in our current financial situation, it's not easy,” she said.
Furthermore, athletes from certain countries also have to navigate the endless struggle of securing a visa.
Khairallah said that she did not receive her visa until the day before her scheduled flight to Romania.
“During my last training sessions, I was training hopelessly. These were the crucial final sessions where I should have been entirely focused on the weights, but I couldn't concentrate because I was scared I wouldn't get the visa, and that I wasn't going to make my dream come true,” she told The National.
She eventually obtained the precious document and realised not only her dream but also that of her many Lebanese supporters.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
