Emirati ice skating queen with big aspirations has her future all figured out

Sara bin Karam laces up her skates, hoping to find a bit of space. In the brief window of time between recreational ice hockey and an open session for amateur skaters, she looks for a corner to squeeze in some practice.

The Emirati figure skater from Abu Dhabi, aged 13, is preparing to compete in the Union Figure Skating Trophy – running from Thursday to Sunday – at Zayed Sports City. The international competition will feature men and women in novice, junior and senior categories over four days.

One of five ice skaters in the UAE national squad, Sara will compete in the intermediate novice category on Friday, aiming to be crowned the UAE national champion. To achieve that she needs to be the highest-placed UAE skater in her category. She hopes to win a medal, but her ambitions for the sport go beyond personal success.

“I hope I can inspire people to start the sport in the UAE because I want it to be very popular,” she tells The National. “Football – everybody's talking about it. It's in school and everything. But skating – nobody knows what it is. So, I really hope it can become more popular.”

Although the UAE hasn't traditionally been a hotbed for athletes pursuing winter sports, that hasn't dampened Sara's dream.

She recalls watching the 2018 Winter Olympics with her father and seeing Russia’s Alina Zagitova win women’s figure skating gold. Although Sara was only six, the performance left an impression on her and she asked her father if she could sign up for ice skating lessons. While he initially agreed, the idea was soon forgotten.

Two years later, a Canadian cartoon show called Max & Ruby depicting figure skating characters reignited her interest. It looked easy, she recalls. Soon, she had signed up for lessons and what began as a hobby eventually turned into a more serious endeavour.

“When I was skating for fun, I needed the penguin. I needed somebody to hold my hand,” she says. “When I took lessons, it was easy to skate at first, but when I got older and started jumping, obviously, it got harder.”

As she got stronger, rather than participate in the sport recreationally, Sara wanted to compete. Despite setbacks that included a knee injury and the Covid-19 pandemic, she eventually took part in her first international competition in Malaysia in 2022. She hasn't looked back since.

As a Year 9 student at Abu Dhabi’s Al Yasmina Academy, Sara has a busy schedule. In addition to her studies, she dedicates hours to training – sometimes up to five or six during the weekends – going to different emirates to look for a quiet ice rink that allows her enough space for her spins and jumps. She's so devoted that her only day off during a typical week is a Wednesday.

“Her commitment is amazing,” says Sara’s mother, Ameerah. “Sara will get on the ice and do three, four hours of training.”

Sara isn’t the first Emirati to compete in the sport – that honour belongs to Zahra Lari – but she hopes to extend the pathway that Lari paved. Now retired, Lari's accolades include being the world’s first figure skater to compete in a hijab as well as being the UAE’s first figure skater to compete in qualification events for the Winter Olympics in 2018.

These days, she is the co-founder and chief executive of Emirates Skating Club, an association that has been greatly beneficial to Sara and other aspiring skaters in the UAE.

Sara recalls how Lari influenced her, especially when she was younger and still developing her skills. She even had the opportunity to be coached by the former UAE champion for a time. While she now works with a different coach, Ukrainian Luda Kalenuk, she remains in touch with Lari, who continues to support and follow her progress.

Her mother, Ameerah, credits Kalenuk with having a strong and positive impact on her daughter's development, on and off the ice. “Sara's confidence and communication skills have improved significantly under coach Luda's guidance over a year and a half,” says Ameerah.

She adds: “She speaks more of her mind as well. She had a very difficult time actually telling the coaches how she felt and how she understood information. I think she's more confident with coach Luda. They have a very friendly banter situation, which is nice. It's like a good friendship.”

In addition to the Union Figure Skating Trophy, Sara also plans to later compete in the ISU Junior Grand Prix, which will be held for the first time in Abu Dhabi in October. She was supposed to make her debut in that event last year, but an injury kept her away.

Sara is fully expecting to feel some pressure when she competes in front of a home crowd in Abu Dhabi, but she knows there will also be a lot of pride. The friends she’s made from international competitions will get to see what the UAE is like – some for the first time. She’ll also have a big group of supporters in the stands to cheer her on.

“Her father always supports her, and I always support her. Our family is very proud of her,” says Ameerah. “All her cousins will come. She has 24, so all of them will be here.”

Sara would one day like to proudly raise the country’s flag at a major international competition.

“I really hope to go to the World Championships. The Olympics are every four years, but Worlds are every year, so I feel like it's more of a possibility,” she says. “It would be really nice to have the UAE represented at the Worlds.”

While her goals may be ambitious, they align with her dreams of raising the sport's profile in the UAE. For those who want to follow a similar path, she has a simple message.

“Don't give up because, when you fall, when you don't manage to do things, it can really demotivate you, but you will soon realise the next day it will be like the easiest thing ever,” says Sara. “That’s skating. One day it's really hard, the next day it's really easy. So, it will come eventually. Just don't give up.”