KARACHI: Most incredible journeys begin with an innocent question. For Sabia Abbat, the first woman from Hazara division to win the national cycling championship earlier this year, the road to success began when she asked, “Why can’t women ride a bicycle?”
Her interest in cycling was piqued two years ago when she was participating in another sporting event for her college. Sabia hails from a small village in Haripur, where women are not allowed to openly participate in sports and usually learn to be content with a domestic life.
As a sports enthusiast, Sabia represented her college in regional events. She realised that she wanted to become a professional cyclist after witnessing an event in 2011. “It all began when I was in Pania. I saw a women’s cycling event and none of the participants could ride properly,” Sabia said.
“Most of them kept falling, others couldn’t sit on the cycle properly, and I thought ‘how difficult could it be to ride a cycle’?”
Sabia said that she came back home to Haripur, and started practicing on her maternal uncle’s bicycle at her nani’s home which was big enough to ride a bike.
“I couldn’t practice outside, since people talk about it, so my training field was my nani’s house on my uncle’s bike,” said Sabia.
“Every time I’d fall from the bicycle, I’d tell myself that I need to master the technique. I just wanted to learn the skill. I fell a lot. I got injured and I realised that cycling is not an easy sport.”
This was just a beginning. Within two years, Sabia became the national champion in Lahore. She outpedalled Wapda’s Raheela Bano, who held the national title for more than a decade till this year. Sabia was discovered by Azhar Ali Shah, a cycling federation official, who encouraged her to train in Lahore with coach Sardar Nazakat Ali.
However, breaking away from the tradition was not easy for Sabia and her family, as she is the oldest of the five siblings, while her father works as a driver in the village. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and hopes to use it to build a career for herself.
“My parents support got me through everything,” said Sabia.
Internews
