Amna Al Haddad, pioneering Emirati weightlifter and CrossFit athlete, was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Amna Al Haddad was born on November 21, 1989, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She would grow up to become one of the most recognizable Emirati sportswomen of her generation, breaking barriers in Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit — sports that had virtually no visible female Emirati participants before her.
Raised in a society where women's participation in strength sports was culturally unusual and often discouraged, Al Haddad's journey from a journalism career into competitive weightlifting became emblematic of a broader shift in Gulf women's engagement with athletics. Her birth in Dubai placed her at the heart of a rapidly modernizing city that, over the following decades, would increasingly promote women's sports as part of national development initiatives.
Her upbringing combined traditional Emirati values with exposure to global media and sport, giving her the tools to later become an outspoken advocate for female athletes navigating both religious modesty and elite competition. This early foundation set the stage for her later achievements including her attempt to qualify for the Olympics, her advocacy for the hijab in professional sport, and her partnership with Nike on the Pro Hijab.