“It’s a new course record, she has done it!” The race announcer shouted over the tannoy repeatedly the news of Chirine Njeim’s latest achievement as she beat the event’s previous winner by more than two minutes.
Njeim was smiling as she strode across the finishing line on Sunday. It had been a comfortable run. She had just won the Beirut Marathon Association’s women’s 10-kilometre race in 35 minutes and 35 seconds.
Njeim, a four-time Olympian, is no stranger to the spotlight. At just eight years old, pitted against adults at the ski resort in Faqra, she won her first race in what would prove to be an illustrious athletic career.
In 2002, 2006 and 2010, Njeim represented Lebanon in the Winter Olympics in alpine skiing before transitioning to the marathon for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
While Njeim fielded requests for photos, the big question was whether she would be selected for Lebanon’s 2020 Olympic team. The qualifying time for the marathon event has dropped dramatically since 2016, meaning Njeim’s personal best may still not be enough.
As a result, she is now competing for a single spot against other Lebanese athletes who have not made the automatic cut-off for their respective events. The place will be determined by the Lebanese Olympic Committee, who will send the name of the chosen athlete to the World Athletics Association by the end of June.
The National recently caught up with Njeim for a morning training session back in Faqra where her athletic career began.
Compared to the atmosphere after the race, training with Njeim was more subdued. While her victory in Sunday’s race was all but assured, her place in this summer’s Olympics is not.
The marathon she ran in Oregon on April 13 was the last realistic attempt she would get to make the automatic qualification for Tokyo, before the qualifying period ends this coming Monday.
While Njeim set a new personal record in her April marathon, shaving just under three minutes off her previous best to get a time of 2:36:40, it was seven minutes short of the time she would have needed for a guaranteed place in Tokyo.
Although this would have been enough to qualify in Rio, more competitive qualification standards mean that Njeim must now wait to see if she is awarded the single slot available by the governing body World Athletics.
All track athletes from the world other than the marathon runners have until the end of June to attempt to qualify for the Olympics or increase their world rankings. This means that there is nothing left at this stage for Chirine to do other than to wait and hope.
When asked about her chances, she says: "50/50, kinda thing. I hope I will be the one representing. I put a lot of effort into my marathon. I paid my own way to do things that are a little different.”
As a former skiing star, Njeim is not new to international competition. Running, however, is a new venture for the world-class athlete compared to her competitors. “I used to hate running, never liked it.” she concedes. “I was always about doing sprints.”
But, after the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, Njeim traded mountains for sky-scrapers and moved her life to Chicago to be with her husband. Once she began going on occasional runs in the parks to stay in shape, Njeim started to see the appeal of running.
It wasn’t long before her competitive streak came out. She found herself surrounded by high-performance runners. With an older sister Nesrine, who is a competitive runner, as her main motivation, she entered into her first marathon in Chicago in 2012, finishing it in 3:07.
Njeim’s first marathon time would be a dream for many competitive athletes who have been training for decades.
After that race, Njeim caught the running bug. She threw herself into beating her time in Chicago, shaving off a minute or so here or there.
In 2015, she doubled down on her quest to push her running efforts, connecting with a pro-runner who guided her through a training program. It worked. At the Chicago Marathon, she beat her personal best by a staggering 17 minutes, getting a time of 2:46.
Njeim surprised herself with her timing. After seeing that the Beirut Marathon was scheduled just a few weeks later, she decided to fly back and run at her home event.
Reflecting on the experience, Chirine says: “I wanted to see if I could do it again.”
In much hotter and more challenging conditions, Njeim managed to still run a blistering 2:49. With these two races under her belt, she had suddenly transitioned from Lebanon’s most elite winter athlete to the country’s premier long-distance runner.
Njeim returned to the US with a confidence boost and a new mission: to shave two minutes off her personal best in order to qualify for the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016. Going against the advice of her coach for running in back-to-back races, Njeim clocked a gutsy 2:44 in Houston just three months after her breakthrough race in Chicago, sealing her place at the Summer Games.
“And so I was going to the Olympics. Running the Houston Marathon was so satisfying and in a way was my own Olympics. Because, by doing it, I accomplished something that a lot of people thought was a crazy idea. I went for it because I believed it was the right thing to do,” says Njeim.
Njeim’s stardom in Lebanon is obvious during Sunday’s race. Even without a Tokyo berth, she will remain a local legend. But for Njeim, it is clear that this is not enough.
As she spends the next month watching and waiting while other athletes compete for Lebanon’s remaining Olympic spot, Njeim’s focus will remain singularly on Tokyo.
“You always want the best for your friends and fellow athletes. But ultimately, we are all competitive people, and I want to go to the Olympics,” she says, "I wish nothing but the best for them, but whoever is the best and should be there, deserves to go."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
The Cockroach
(Vintage)
Ian McEwan
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Indoor Cricket World Cup
When: September 16-23
Where: Insportz, Dubai
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Bio
Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
%3Cp%3EMATA%0D%3Cbr%3EArtist%3A%20M.I.A%0D%3Cbr%3ELabel%3A%20Island%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fixtures (6pm UAE unless stated)
Saturday Bournemouth v Leicester City, Chelsea v Manchester City (8.30pm), Huddersfield v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm), Manchester United v Crystal Palace, Stoke City v Southampton, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, West Ham United v Swansea City
Sunday Arsenal v Brighton (3pm), Everton v Burnley (5.15pm), Newcastle United v Liverpool (6.30pm)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
