TV personality Khalid Al Jumaily in conversation with Qatari athlete Mariam Farid during QF’s National Sport Day talks.
Qatar’s women athletes took centre stage during the Qatar Foundation’s virtual National Sport Day celebration said that sport has become part of the country’s culture.
Qatari athlete Mariam Farid and Olympic swimmer Nada Arakji also encouraged the community, especially women to be confident and march forward to reach their goals in sports.
The annual celebration of sport, and Qatar’s hosting of major sporting events, has “motivated our society to see that sport is now part of our culture,” said Mariam during QF’s National Sport Day talks.
To young women thinking about following in her sporting footsteps, Mariam said, “You should be confident, believe in yourself, and work toward improving, changing, and growing as a person – love yourself, accept yourself, and go into society with a smile that says you won’t give up.”
“I hope to raise more awareness in Qatar of the importance of being more active and living a healthy lifestyle. I would support anyone to participate in sports, and to upcoming athletes, we have such a great opportunity through Qatar hosting the 2030 Asian Games, both to participate and to be part of our sports industry,” she added.
QF’s National Sport Day talks introduced by TV personality Khalid Al Jumaily, also featured Nada first woman to represent Qatar at the Olympics said that it important to have a disciplined lifestyle and keep a balance between sport and other priorities in life.
“If you have a passion for sports one of the main characteristics is to be disciplined,” she said.
“While trying to balance between sport and other activities like higher education can be overwhelming but with a right time management and support system one can overcome it,” she added.
The activities hosted virtually by QF enabled people across the country to get into the spirit of sport and exercise while observing COVID-19 health guidelines, and to boost their fitness while also learning about the value of living an active life from sports stars and experts.
QF’s National Sport Day activities also featured professional instructors from gyms and fitness centers across Qatar holding sessions that were open to everyone through a dedicated National Sport Day section on QF’s website, while a series of activities for all ages were held through the newly-launched Education City App.
Professional instructors from Zulal Wellness Resort, Gymmito, F45, and T23 staged online workouts, with people also participating in a Muay Thai class with Hands of Stone and a yoga session with Vishnu Yoga, and QF’s Qatar Reads initiative teaming up with Olympic Stars and Warrior Fit to offer a gymnastic class and a bootcamp for children.
In a session focusing on how exercise and mental health are interconnected, a consultant clinical psychiatrist at QF member Sidra Medicine, Dr. Naomi Hynd said, “There are many different factors that affect mental health, and exercise is certainly one of those.
“Exercise boosts our mood and releases the tension and worry in our body. If you have an excess of stress in your life, you need to balance it out with pleasurable activities, and exercise is really good in this respect. And with social isolation being a key predictor to mental health issues, exercising with others is a good way to meet people.
“But it’s important to set realistic targets with exercise, it doesn’t have to be a large amount of time. If you do 10-15 minutes of vigorous exercise each day, that is enough in terms of benefiting our mental health. It simply has to be something that is sustainable for you,” said Dr. Hynd.
