Sunday marked the end of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Inspired by the increased coverage of women’s sports in the media, we wanted to highlight four incredible athletes who have broken the mould in their respective fields and paved the way for others to follow.
Surya Bonaly
Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly is a competitive figure skater from France. Now retired, she competed in three Olympics, was a five-time European champion and a nine-time French national champion.
Growing up 50 km from Nice in France, Bonaly’s adoptive parents encouraged her talents from a young age. Her mother was a PE teacher and later became her coach, working with her on her competitive performances. As a child, Bonaly did both gymnastics and figure skating. It was the latter that captured her heart, but the gymnastics certainly gave her great training that would go on to influence her routines.
Age eleven, Bonaly broke her ankle while trying to perform a ‘double axel’. It was on her return, after two months in a cast, that she caught the eye of the French team trainer, Didier Gailhaguet. He was training the national team in Bonaly’s local ice rink but when he saw Bonaly reattempt another double axel straight after her recovery, he was impressed by her fighting spirit and asked her to join his training sessions. At just twelve years old, she joined the French national team and went on to compete in competitions nationally and internationally.
Bonaly was the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade and was known for routines that were performed more for her legions of fans than for the judges. She inspired many to learn evermore exciting and complicated routines and still inspires today as a skating consultant and motivational speaker.
Yusra Mardini
Yusra Mardini is not just an inspiration in her sport of choice. Her determination in the face of the most challenging of circumstances means she has inspired millions around the world.
Mardini was born in Syria and grew up in a suburb of Damascus. She was gifted at swimming and represented her country at the 2012 FINA Short Course World Championships. However, in 2015 she was forced to leave due to ongoing conflict in the country and she made a perilous crossing to reach Turkey. From here, Mardini and her sister, Sara, were smuggled into Greece but on the journey the motor of the boat they were on stopped working and the boat started to take on water. The boat was overcrowded and, with no other options, the Mardini sisters alongside two others jumped into the water to push the boat to safety over the course of three hours!
Once eventually settled in Germany with her family, Mardini was able to think about swimming again. She trained with coach Sven Spannekrebs and in June 2016 she was chosen for the first IOC Refugee Olympic team who she represented in Rio de Janeiro. Her story became an international sensation and in 2017 she was appointed as the youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency.
Her story has been immortalised both in Mardini’s own book, Butterfly, and in the Netflix film, The Swimmers. She has now become a German citizen and the world is waiting to see whether she will compete with them at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. We certainly hope she will and can’t wait to see how her story continues.
Amna Al Qubaisi and Hamda Al Qubaisi
There’s clearly something in the Al Qubaisi genes because sisters Hamda and Amna have both already achieved so much in the F1 driving scene.
The eldest of the two, Amna made her single-seater debut in 2018, competing in Italian F4, before becoming the first Emirati and female racer to compete in the Formula 4 UAE Championship the following year. Not to be outdone, Hamda debuted a year later in the same race and, in 2021, she made history as the first female racer to claim a podium in the Championship. That same year she went on to compete in the Formula Regional Asian and European Championships.
It’s not surprising that these two have found success in the racing world. Their father, Khaled Al Qubaisi, is also an impressive racer, and is the only Emirati driver to have won the 24H DUBAI race outright. There are not many sports that offer the opportunity for two generations to compete at the same time so it’s fascinating to see how the Al Qubaisi daughters compare to their father in real terms. They are certainly not falling short! In March they both joined the MP Motorsport team for the F1 Academy and with records already under their belts, we can’t wait to see what they do next!
