Lebanese skier Chirine Njeim is set to represent Lebanon in the summer Rio 2016 Olympics but of course, there won't be any white slopes for her to showcase her skills. So, the athlete will be competing in the marathon event.
An athlete practicing different types of sports may not be big news. But how often do we hear about an athlete excelling at two mutually exclusive sports?
According to Chicago Tribune , only 132 athletes (105 men, 27 women) have participated in both Winter and Summer Olympic Games, while seven have competed in cross-country skiing and a track-and-field event. However, no athlete has taken part in alpine skiing along with track-and-field, which focuses on cardio rather than power. Determined to become the first Olympian to accomplish that, Njeim has successfully booked her ticket to Rio 2016 to participate by running the marathon .
Chirine Njeim was born in 1984, and three years later, her father taught her how to ski; she learned to use the lift and make some turns. Njeim began training and competing in Lebanon at 11-years-old, after joining the Faraya Mzaar Ski Club.
She faced her first major challenge at the age of 12 when she decided to move to France, away from her family and friends, to study and train with a personal coach. Njeim thus participated in several international junior races in Europe.
“Skiing is not very well supported in Lebanon. My career as a ski racer would have never come true if I didn’t have such an incredible family that believed in me and pushed me to follow my dreams,” she told StepFeed. The experience was certainly difficult, but Njeim said that it taught her to be confident, independent and responsible.
At 14, Njeim moved to Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah. She studied at Rowland Hall School and trained at its ski academy, which happens to be where American former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street had trained as well .
Despite a torn ACL in 2000, followed by double pneumonia and anorexia in 2001, the alpine skier represented Lebanon at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. She also competed at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics in Italy and Canada respectively.
After moving to Chicago in 2010, Chirine Njeim launched her running career, rather unintentionally.
"I had a lot of free time at that time, and the best way to discover the city was to run the neighborhoods. It all started by doing short runs and gradually adding more miles. My sister being a huge runner motivated us to run the Chicago marathon," she explained. "The idea of running a 26.2 mile (42.2 kilometer) course at that time was a crazy thought, but because it was so challenging we decided to go for it, and that was the beginning of it all."
Njeim ran the 2012 Chicago Marathon in 3 hours and 7 minutes, which is, according to her husband Ronny Kamal, ridiculous for someone who just picked up the sport. Njeim trimmed her time to 3:05:4 in the 2013 Marathon, reached 3:03:53 the following year and finally beat the three hour barrier in the 2015 Chicago Marathon with a remarkable 2:46:41. She thus broke the Lebanese Women’s Marathon Record that had been set by Maria Pia Nehme.
Regardless of her need for a well-deserved break after having already competed in two marathons within three months, Njeim headed to Houston this January to break the 2:45 target.
She ran the 2016 Houston Marathon in 2:44:14, hence becoming the Lebanese athlete to qualify for Rio 2016. Since then, she has been working nonstop to get stronger and faster, aiming to improve her personal best at Rio.
She considers being Lebanese a source of pride, strength, and motivation. Njeim is thrilled to be representing her country and has been welcomed by Lebanon's Olympic Committee, Federation, officials and citizens with warm support.
“ I would like to send a special thank you to my family, husband, and coach Walter James for pushing me to be the best, to May El Khalil for inviting me to Lebanon to support and encourage the kids at the youth race last month, and to the Lebanese Federation and Olympic Committee for providing me with all the support to help me reach my goal," she said.
“I believe every one of us has the ability to do something incredible. With a little motivation and support, we can all reach our dreams and goals. I want to be able to provide running coaches to women of all abilities, while also providing them with information, tools, and exercises to help them in those other areas of life that women today may struggle with.”
Along with Chirine, shooter Ray Bassil, fencer Mona Shaito, judoka Nacif Elias and table tennis player Mariana Sahakyan have secured a spot in Rio . Best of luck to all!