No weights? No problem! Jordanian athlete lifts sister and sofa to stay fit during lockdown

Record ID: 1468479

  • Title: No weights? No problem! Jordanian athlete lifts sister and sofa to stay fit during lockdown
  • Date: 9th April 2020
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (APRIL 9, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JORDANIAN JUDO PLAYER, HADEEL ALAMI, LIFTING COUCH AT LIVING ROOM VARIOUS OF ALAMI DOING PUSH-UPS WITH HER SISTER ON HER BACK VARIOUS OF ALAMI DOING SQUATS WHILE CARRYING HER SISTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JORDANIAN JUDO PLAYER, HADEEL ALAMI, SAYING : "I came up with a training regimen that includes lifting (my sister) on my back while doing squats. I tried by convincing her by telling her this was a game. She likes the idea of judo, she sees me wearing the judo costume and is interested in it. Now whenever I mention a training she gets excited. I asked her to train with me - I carried her on my back and started doing squats. She loves it, she thinks I'm playing with her." VARIOUS OF ALAMI TRAINING USING CHAIR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JORDANIAN JUDO PLAYER, HADEEL ALAMI SAYING : "In the beginning, I was upset, I was eagerly waiting for (the Olympic qualifiers), I was very close to qualifying for the Olympics. So when it was postponed, I was very upset at first, I even stopped training and took a day off. But then I started thinking - why should I be negative? This year might enable me to train more and work harder in order to be even more prepared. I started thinking positively, maybe it was postponed for a good reason." ALAMI HUGGING HER SISTER VARIOUS OF ALAMI LIFTING WATER BOTTLE ON ROOF OF HER HOME VARIOUS OF ALAMI TRAINING ALAMI LOOKING INTO HORIZON / CALL OF PRAYER HEARD IN BACKGROUND
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2020 17:35
  • Keywords: Coronavirus Jordan Judo athlete
  • Location: No-Data-Available
  • City: No-Data-Available
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: Sport,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001C8RTI6T
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Jordanian Judo player, Hadeel Alami, spends her mornings at home carrying her sister over her shoulders as she squats in their living room.
    The athlete, who along with millions of Jordanians is under government curfew to combat the spread of coronavirus, is determined to continue her training with the hope of qualifying for next year's Olympics.
    The kingdom has seen a spike of coronavirus cases since announcing the first early last month, and now has a total of 358 cases with six deaths.
    As a result, many sporting events, including the Olympic qualifiers originally set to take place in Jordan in March, were postponed indefinitely.
    But 20-year-old Alami, who is the only Jordanian woman participating in Olympics qualifiers, decided to see this as an opportunity to work harder and continue improving her skills. Despite having no access to the gym, she transformed water bottles into dumbbells, and lifts their couch instead of weights.
    The Tokyo Games, originally scheduled to start in July this year, have been postponed to July 23 - August 8, 2021 due to the pandemic.
    (Production: Mohammed Ramahi, Muath Freij)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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