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19 March 2024

UAE's 'Ice Princess' to make history at European Cup

Zahra Larii’s dream is to represent the UAE in the Olympics. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff

A 17-year-old Emirati is making history by becoming the first ever figure skater from the UAE to compete in an international competition.

Zahra Lari, from Abu Dhabi, is to compete in the European Cup in Canazei, Italy, from April 9-14.

Sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Zayed Sports City, where she practices on the ice rink twice per day, Zahra is a member of the Abu Dhabi Figure Skating Team.

More than 50 countries are represented in the European Cup but Zahra’s participation will mark the first time a skater from the UAE has been involved.

Zahra said: “When I was about 11 years old I saw a movie called the Ice Princess, about a geeky kid who studies ice skating as part of a physics project and falls in love with figure skating. I watched the film and fell in love with the expression and the art and knew it was what I wanted to do.”

Zahra’s parents then took her to Zayed Sports City where she was introduced to coach Noemi Bedo.

She showed signs of talent from the start and began to train regularly with another Zayed Sports City coach, Tunde Gal, becoming involved.

Zahra said: “I train six days a week, before school and after. Before school I get up at 4.30am and do off-ice exercise followed by on-ice training, running through routines and practicing.

“The best part about it is the feeling when you complete your jumps, but it takes a lot of work. The hardest part is getting up again when you fall down.”

Off the ice, Zahra has faced additional challenges.

“Some people used to think it is not something a muslim or Emirati girl should be doing, but that has changed now,” she said.

“Generally women are being supported in Abu Dhabi to take part in sports.”

Zahra’s mother, Roquiya Cochran, said: “As long as she is enjoying it my husband and I are 100% behind her.

“Her education is the most important thing though – Zahra skates straight from school but then she comes home and when she finishes praying it is time for school work. She is a very good student as well.”

Zahra’s success is part of Zayed Sports City’s efforts to nurture local talent in a number of sports.

“We are all very proud of what Zahra is achieving and we all wish her the very best of luck in Italy,” said Zayed Sports City’s director of marketing, Maria Gedeon.

“It proves that if you work hard then you can make dreams come true. We want as many local athletes as possible to get in touch with us the way Zahra did as we will do everything possible to help them.”

Zahra chooses her own music for her routines which she then discusses with coaches Noemi and Tunde.

In the European Cup, in which she is entered in the junior category, she will be judged on three performances: a long programme set to Feeling Good by Escala; a short programme to the title track of the film Desert Flower; and an interpretive piece portraying the character Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations.

Noemi, who has worked with Zahra for the entire time she has been skating, said: “Zahra has a natural talent but she works extremely hard to get where she is. We work together on the choreography and think very hard about how Zahra is going to look – we make sure the music and moves match her personality and everything she believes in.”

Noemi and Gal, along with Zahra’s parents, will accompany her on her trip to Italy

Zahra’s dream is to represent the UAE in the Olympics, but she jokes: “I’ll have to start learning to land my triples first!”