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00:00I feel proud of myself. I feel like this is an Olympic gold and I want to make everyone in the UAE proud.
00:10I want to do in the future like to be a coach and to make more Emirati girls come and join the school.
00:19And I want to win the Olympic gold for my country so every single person can be proud and like everyone can join my club.
00:27Until I win 100 medals.
00:31I love gymnastics so much and my family and my friends support me so much.
00:38And my teachers and my coaches and every single one wishes me so, so good luck.
00:47I train seven hours like when I go for another training.
00:51Every time it's a different carpet different stuff so I have to like feel like how the competition is going to be.
00:58So the thing the carpet and everything is perfect for me so seven hours.
01:03Lamia has been training since the age of five.
01:06Initially she was pushed into it by us because she had a very energetic active lifestyle and we didn't know where to use that energy for.
01:15But then when she started improving in gymnastics and her coach who's a world champion told us that there is potential for this child to get into professional gymnastics.
01:24We decided to make it more competitive and go all the way.
01:30Slowly her dream started building because she started training harder, working harder.
01:35We had to put in a lot more hours where she doesn't really have a normal childhood.
01:41And actually train and work and go for summer camps where she's actually training and not enjoying the summer holidays.
01:49So it was a balance where we had to give to her to make sure that she takes on the responsibility of the country.
01:57It's not just about us, her parents, her friends, her inner circle.
02:02It's about the entire country where she gets recognition from international platforms.
02:08And people recognize who she is as a gymnast even though she's very young.
02:12She's at the age of eight and she's done quite a few international championships.
02:16Where she sometimes is the only UAE national ever to have competed in gymnastics in that country.
02:21Every country that we visit, that we do an international competition in, we are representing the UAE.
02:26We come from Dubai Youth Olympic School but we're representing a country.
02:30Because it's organized by the Federation of Gymnastics of that country.
02:33And unfortunately we don't have a federation in the UAE.
02:37And we keep getting asked that question as to why Lamia is not part of a federation from the UAE.
02:45Where it is required as in a couple of years, in 3-4 years time, she would need a license to actually compete in these international arenas.
02:54Doing world championships, junior level championships, Olympic cups, etc.
02:59She would need a license.
03:01So they keep asking us why we have not had a federation as yet.
03:05Because it's not only about Lamia, it's about arranging a technical team, a judge needs to be along with her.
03:10So it's fair play when she goes for competitions.
03:13So that not just other countries are judging her, but her own country.
03:16She has a representative.
03:18Which currently we don't have.
03:20We're lacking in that area.
03:22We've been trying to promote this sport already.
03:24And I think it's a huge success that last year we ran the first national championship.
03:28To attract more national kids to practice gymnastics.
03:32I think the next step for us would be opening up a federation.
03:36Which we've mentioned before.
03:38Because without it, Lamia would not be able to participate in any world championship, Olympic games.
03:43For example, this year in July, in 2019, Moscow holds the first ever junior rhythmic gymnastics world championship.
03:52It's a huge success for the younger kids to be able to participate in the world championship.
03:57And for example, UAE, even if Lamia would be highly qualified for the championship of that level.
04:03She would not be able to participate because of not having a federation in the UAE.
04:08So I really hope that there will be a chance for us to represent the country.
04:13Because kids like Lamia, right now it is Lamia, but we're raising a younger generation as well to follow her steps.
04:20And of course the next step for her, if we would like to go all the way, would be opening up a federation of rhythmic gymnastics.
04:28We have been asking the youth authorities, Dubai Sports Council, various government entities to create a federation.
04:38And we have been told that there is a procedure.
04:41But unfortunately there is nobody who is an expert in gymnastics and who happens to be part of any of the federations in the UAE currently.
04:50So maybe that is the reason why a committee is not set up.
04:54But we could be a part of it because we have already seen international arenas.
04:58We've met with gymnastic federations in Russia, in Uzbekistan, France, Germany.
05:04So we are aware of what the FIG rules are.
05:07We have a world champion who is senior who understands the rules and regulations.
05:11And every competition we go to, we make sure that these prerequisites need to be ticked off before she can participate or compete in any competition.
05:20So our main drawback is not having a federation, which means not having a judge along with us.