Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

a Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, ميثاء بنت محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم; born 5 March 1980) is a

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

athlete and Sheikha of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. She was the first woman from UAE to represent the country in the Olympics in 2008.

Personal life

a Maitha is the daughter of

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. H ...

, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and ruler of the

Emirate of Dubai The Emirate of Dubai ( ar, إمارة دبيّ; pr. ) is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is the most populous emirate of the United Arab Emirates, UAE. The capital of the emirate is the eponymous city, Dubai. Geograp ...

. Her mother is an

Algerian Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...

, Houria Ahmed Lamara. She is the sister of Sheikha

Shamsa In Islamic art, a shamsa (Persian: شمسه ''shamseh'', Arabic: شمسة ''shums'') is an intricately decorated rosette or medallion which is used in many contexts, including manuscripts, carpets, ornamental metalwork and architectural decorat ...

, Sheikha

Latifa Latifa or Lateefa is a feminine Arabic (لٓطِيفٓة) given name which means "gentle" or "pleasant". It corresponds to the masculine Latif. Notable persons Lateefa * Lateefa Al Gaood, Bahraini politician * Lateefah Simon, American activist ...

, and Sheikh Majid. She was appointed as a board member of the Global Initiative Foundation in December 2015.

Sports career

In 2000, Sheikha Maitha began her martial arts career. In 2004, she won the karate 65-kg class at the 10th Pan Arab Games and became the first UAE woman to win an international gold medal. Representing the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

in the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, she won the silver medal at the Women's Over 60 Kilogram karate event. In 2007, she won another gold medal at the 11th Pan Arab Games in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. In March 2008, the UAE

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

announced Sheikha Maitha's participation at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, making her the first woman to represent the UAE carrying the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...

. She participated in

in the 67 kg category for women. In March 2011, she participated in the GCC Women's Sports Championships in Abu Dhabi and won the gold medal in Taekwondo. Sheikha Maitha started playing women's

at the age of 32 as injuries prevented her from continuing martial arts. She participated with her team in the IFZA Silver Cup 2021 and advanced to the semi-finals. At the Polo Masters Cup 2021 and the Dubai Polo Challenge 2021 Sheikha Maitha led her UAE team to victory.

Accolades and awards

In 2007, Sheikha Maitha was named Arab Sports woman of the Year for winning the silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games. In December 2007, she was the first Arab woman to receive the World Fair Play Award in Paris, France. In 2008, she was included as 17th on the list of the "20 Hottest Young Royals" as compiled by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine.

Ancestry

References

Living people 1980 births

Maitha Maitha is a village in Kanpur Dehat district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.Maitha is founded new tehsil in Kanpur Dehat district and comes under Kanpur Metropolitan Area Maitha Village Maitha village is situated from Maitha Railway ...

Emirati female taekwondo practitioners Emirati female karateka Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners of the United Arab Emirates Emirati princesses People from Dubai Asian Games medalists in karate Royal Olympic participants Karateka at the 2002 Asian Games Karateka at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for the United Arab Emirates Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games {{authority control