By Mohamed Assed.

Tripoli, 28 July:

Hala Gezah is competing at the 2012 London . . .[restrict]summer Olympics as the only Libyan female participant. On Friday,  2 August, she will step into the Olympic stadium track in London to take part in the women’s 100-metre sprint. But before D-day, let us know more about our Libyan champion.

Born on 17 September, 1989, weighing 55 Kilogrammes and standing 1.69 metres tall, Hala embodies the Libyan female presence at the London Olympics. Despite her unconcealed bashfulness, she carries with her a story of great willpower and pride. Her professional and personal careers are ones that prodigiously illustrate a modest, charismatic and mostly principled character.

Hala’s professional sporting career is still novice and isn’t particularly brimming with participations in international competitions. According to her trainer, Abdullah, who was quoted by slateafrique.com saying: “Hala has rarely participated in international competitions.”

In fact, according to the sporting archives, Hala’s first international participation was in the 12^th edition of the Pan-Arab Championships in Doha, Qatar, in December 2011. During the competition, Hala competed in the 100-metre sprint in lane 7 of the Khalifa Stadium track in Doha, where she ranked fifth, before the last position that was also held by another Libyan athlete, Fatma Belkir.

Women’s 100-metre Round 1 Heat 2/2 of the 2011 Pan-Arab Championships Ranking:

Source: www.rs.arabgames2011.qa

Hala’s second international competition was in the African Senior Championships in June 2012 in Porto-Novo, Benin. Hala this time competed in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints where she ranked sixrth and fourth respectively.

Hala Gezah’s participation in the Senior African Championships in Porto-Novo, Benin in June 2012:

A noble gesture from the International Olympic Committee

In an interview with slateafrique.com 10 days before the start of the Olympic Games, Gezah downplayed her important participation in the Olympics. For sure, the Olympics should have brought immeasurable honour and joy to the young Libyan athlete. However, Hala’s participation at the London Olympics was in large part due to an invitation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In fact, Hala’s best performance in a 100-metre sprint was 13.15 seconds, significantly less than the minimum qualifying time to the Olympics (11.38 seconds). As a result, Gezah’s steadfast principles and strong sense of sportsmanship led her to refuse to participate in the games. Nonetheless, the IOC showcased its prolonged support and honourable promotion of sports around the globe by inviting her as a symbol of the new modern Libyan woman who could express herself freely in a new democracy, and could wander the streets without being sexually harassed or obliged to put on a veil by a society that is still very conservative.

Even then, Hala’s modesty was such that she did not even tell all her friends she would participate in the Olympics. However, she was clearly jubilant and excited about the games and being inn London when she was recently interviewed there by television sports video news agency, SNTV last Friday. “My feeling is of immense happiness to be in London, to take part in the Olympics”, she said. “This is my dream and every athlete’s dream. Thank God my preparations were good. I never stopped despite the problems we’ve faced back home where I trained in Tripoli.”

Hala Gezah, reportedly, the only 5th Libyan female Olympian

It is reported that out of the 53 Libyan athletes who have participated in the Olympiads, Hala Gezah is the only fifth Libyan female to do so. According to the International Association of Athletics Federation archives, the first Libyan Olypmic sportswoman was Ruwida El Hubti, who partook at the 2004 Athens games. El Hubti finished last in the women’s 400-metre sprint, but set a new national record in the process (1:03.57). In the same games was Amira Edrahi who took in the women’s 50-metre swimming freestyle contest. Another two Libyans women, Asmahan Farhat (aka Mercedes Farhat) and Ghada Ali, participated at the 2008 Beijing Olympics..

History of Libya at the Olympic Games:

Source: www.olympic.org

Before the Olympics, Hala Gezah was quoted as saying: “I know nothing of London, but I’ll probably go shopping.” Hala may indeed know nothing of London, but one thing is for sure. The Libyan public knows about her, and holds her in dear heart. Libyans will cheer their only female representative as jubilantly as they heartily supported and defended their revolution.

For the other four Libyan athletes partaking in the Olympics see:

http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=11482 [/restrict]