Saudi Arabia's first competitive female skier on life as a trailblazer

The National

2 days ago

Saudi skier Sharifa Al Sudairi didn't have a favourite sport as a child – she wanted to try them all. 'I've done every sport under the sun,' she recalled.
During the winter holidays, she would go skiing in the Alps with her family, which satisfied her search for adrenaline and her love of speed. 'Never in a million years did I imagine I could do that as a profession,' Al Sudairi, 38, told The National.
I was inspired by the changes that were happening in my country
Sharifa Al Sudairi
Despite that absence of expectation, she was encouraged by Saudi Arabia's drive for sporting advancement so she quit her career in the art world, where she had worked as a gallerist and in an auction house, and turned to a professional life on the slopes.
The mother of two this year became the first Saudi woman to compete at the Asian Winter Games, which took place in Harbin, China. Her appearance at the world championships was also a first for a Saudi woman.
'I was inspired by the changes that were happening in my country. It was a pivotal moment when I just thought, 'you know what? Why not?' I have a chance now to go for it,' Al Sudairi said, during a Women in Sports in Mena conference in London.
Effortlessly elegant in person, there were no signs that she had returned from a training camp in freezing conditions on an Austrian glacier at an altitude of 3,000 metres the night before.
Olympics goal
Al Sudairi will spend six to eight weeks focusing on gym work, and hopes her next ski season will take her to the Andes in Argentina. 'It's what I'm begging my coach for us to do, before the European season starts here,' she said.
Her goal is to qualify for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. 'It's the biggest goal on the horizon, and every race I enter, every training session, every recovery protocol – it's all building towards that,' she said.
She has welcomed how attitudes towards professional sport in her country have evolved.
'Traditionally, what we [were] taught is that you study, you go to university, and so on and so forth. That there's no money in sports, or there's no women,' she said. 'You do sports as a hobby or after school or on the weekend, but that was about it. There was no sport as a profession.'
Saudi Arabia is developing its winter sports infrastructure to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. This, along with the growth of sports federations, is one of the ways in which the country is changing as it seeks to end decades of cultural isolation and speed up reforms.
Transformations
The country is also preparing to host the 2034 World Cup, and Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb has said that sports tourism would help the country reach its target of 150 million tourists a year by 2030.
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo became reportedly the world's best-paid player when he joined the Saudi Al Nassr team in 2023.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has also signed a key partnership with the Women's Tennis Association and is hosting the finals until 2026.
Paralympic athletes are also feeling the benefits of the country's sports investment.
Swimming coach Dawn Venturas, who trains the Saudi Paralympic Swimming team, described the enormous achievements they have made in under two years of competing internationally.
'We're right at the pioneering stage,' she told The National.
The group of swimmers aged between 14 and 21 first competed abroad in Germany a year ago, and have since won five medals in Cairo and Paris.
The kingdom's first sports competition for women with disabilities in November last year attracted swimmers, including one who had learnt to swim only two weeks before the competition. It was a sign of the vast appetite for sports in the country.
'The story in Saudi Arabia, it's just starting out. This is what makes it so exciting. It's the infancy, and you're planting the seeds for the future,' Ms Venturas said.
New generation
'For a sport to be successful in a country, you need your role models, and I didn't have that growing up,' Al Sudairi told the conference.
She hopes to fill that gap for younger athletes. She tracks her journey on Instagram, including posting tips on training and good sleep.
'You don't need to follow a traditional path to achieve something extraordinary. Whether it's starting a sport later in life, balancing elite competition with motherhood or being the only woman in the room – you can still show up, still grow, still lead,' she told The National.
'More than anything, I want my own children to see that showing up with courage, consistency and heart is what makes a real difference.'
Despite her growing profile, Al Sudairi gets questions 'all the time' from people who are surprised that a Saudi woman can be a professional skier. '[They ask:] what do you mean? On the desert? On the dunes?'
She has to travel to cold destinations to ski, but she is confident there will be facilities closer to home in the future.
'There's a lot of development in winter sports. Now we have to travel for our skiing, but there are projects coming to the country that will hopefully have that for the next generation,' Al Sudairi said.
Yet more effort is needed to make professional sports more easily accessible to everyone across the country.
'There's a lot that needs to be done in terms of athlete development programmes, making sports more accessible on a community level – more qualified coaches, more stadiums that will host and have all these sports,' she said.
Her favourite place in the world is Jeddah, followed by any high-altitude piste with 'hard snow'.
Al Sudairi's journey has been fast but not easy. She began racing at small community events in Switzerland in 2022, before being invited to represent the country at Ski Dubai in 2023.
She tore a ligament in her ankle in the middle of her ski season the same year, and missed a training season in Oregon.
She then dislocated her arm while racing in Italy last December. 'The emotional rollercoaster that comes with competitive sport can give you your highest high and your lowest low,' she wrote on her Instagram at the time of her first injury.
'Always keep your mind focused on the ultimate goal, stay positive, know that failure is not final."
Wit' her eyes set on Milan, the journey counts as much as the target.
'It's not just about the finish line for me – it's about what it represents: progress for women in sport, for the Arab world in winter sports, and for anyone chasing a dream that once felt out of reach,' she said.