On sports: Zeina Nassar is fighting for her dream

Zeina Nassar didn’t change for the rules. She helped change the rules.

The German-born boxer of Lebanese parents lives in Berlin, where she has been training diligently for the 2020 Olympics while keeping up with her university studies. However, Zeina’s far from being your stereotypical 21-year-old college student. That’s because as a Muslim, who is devout to her faith, she wears a headscarf – a hijab – both in public and in the boxing ring. And that’s where things get tricky and complicated.

“I don’t want to be reduced to my looks, or my hijab,” says Nassar, in a Nike-produced video posted on her Instagram profile (@zeina.boxer). “It really doesn’t matter which religion I practice. In the end, what matters to me is my sport.”

Fascinated by both the discipline and elegance of the sport of boxing, the 2018 German champion says, “We live in a time where everything should be possible, and you have to fight to make changes in society.”

In an interview with Material magazine, Nassar said she was looked upon as “an absolute misfit” in the ring when she began boxing. However, she said, “I didn’t let that discourage me. It’s those fallacies I want to tackle and, hopefully, someday, get rid of for good. I believe that everyone should have the right to do whatever it is he or she pleases to do. Simple as that.

“Personally, I feel empowered through boxing. Even though I have had to face all kinds of unfairness, I never held back from doing what I believed in just because it may have crossed someone else’s opinion or expectation of what I could or could not do.”

When Nassar first participated in a boxing competition in 2013, according to regulations, she was not allowed to compete in a hijab. She remembers she often had the feeling she needed to prove herself twice as hard as the others.

“My first coach fought for the boxing regulation to be changed in Germany,” Nassar recalls. “And since then, all women are allowed to compete in boxing.

“Back then, I really had no idea what I started, but today I’m more and more aware that I am a role model for a lot of kids and adults. When I was 13, I didn’t even think about whether I would be allowed, wearing a hijab, or not. For me, it was just normal, same as for all the other kids. I had a dream and wanted to do it.”

Now, Nassar is featured in Nike’s new “Dream Crazier” ad campaign, which launched worldwide via social media on Sunday. The Nike swoosh is prominantly displayed on Nassar’s hijab that she wears when she competes.

Just last week, Nassar scored a huge victory outside of the boxing ring. That’s because the International Boxing Association rewrote the rules, allowing women all over the world to box while wearing hijabs. No longer will Nassar’s hijab be an obstacle for her in the ring.

“It’s a huge win for me and for women across the world,” she wrote on Instagram. Her fighting spirit lives on.

“My ongoing contribution to the world is that I want to continue to inspire people,” Nassar told Material magazine. “I want to encourage people, especially women, to not take ‘no’ for an answer. I want women to feel strong, brave, independent, victorious. I want women to see me and say ‘Hey, if she can do it, so can I.’ Every day, I receive messages of people telling me how much I’ve helped them with conquering fears and doubts. It gives me so much pride, hope and happiness. It fuels my own motivation to fight. Not only in the ring. Not only for myself. But for all of us.”

Photos: Courtesy of Zeina-Nassar.com, Nike.com.