Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, ميثاء بنت محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم; born 5 March 1980) is a
karate,
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
,
polo 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
Sheikha 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. ...
, 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 UAE. The capital of the emirate is the eponymous city, Dubai.
Geography
The city of Dubai i ...
. Her mother is an
Algerian, 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, 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
The 10th Arab Games was an international multi-sport event which took place in Algiers, Algeria, between 24 September and 10 October 2004. It witnessed the participation of all Arab League members for the first time – 22 countries participated i ...
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 t ...
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 city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
In March 2008, the UAE
National Olympic Committee announced Sheikha Maitha's participation at the
2008 Summer Olympics, making her the first woman to represent the UAE carrying the
national flag.
She participated in
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
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
polo 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 r ...
'' 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
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