Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Tina Rahimi has become the first female Muslim boxer selected to represent Australia at an Olympics after being named as one of 12 fighters to have qualified for Paris 2024.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s largest-ever boxing team is evenly split between men and women, a fitting statistic for an Olympics that will be the first in 128 years to achieve gender parity in terms of the number of athletes competing.<\/p>\n
Rahimi, from Bankstown in Sydney\u2019s south-west, was also the first female Australian boxer of her religion to compete at a Commonwealth Games when she won a bronze medal in the featherweight division (57 kilograms) in Birmingham in 2022.<\/p>\n
She also won gold at the recent Pacific Games in Honiara, in the Solomon Islands, where she was the unanimous choice of all five judges in the final.<\/p>\n
The sacrifices Rahimi makes to box while adhering to her faith are considerable. Asked whether it was uncomfortable boxing with arms and legs covered, wearing a full-length hijab under her protective headgear, she replied: \u201cOh god, it\u2019s extremely hot. In the Solomon Islands, the humidity was insane. As soon as I put the head cover on, I was dripping sweat. But, like with fasting and training, I adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
The holy month of Ramadan, during which time the Muslim faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset, coincided with this year\u2019s IBA Women\u2019s World Boxing Championships in India.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tina Rahimi is heading to the Paris Olympics.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI had to get my running in before sunrise in order to keep up my training and water levels,\u201d Rahimi said. \u201cI could only do one session a day. I felt very fatigued, drained. But it\u2019s part of my religion and so it\u2019s important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Shedding kilograms to make the weight division can also create challenges \u2013 in some countries, it\u2019s hard to find a women-only sauna.<\/p>\n But Rahimi\u2019s occupation as a make-up artist has advantages.<\/p>\n \u201cAt last year\u2019s world championships in Turkey, I had bruises all around my eyes,\u201d she said. \u201cBut by the time I\u2019d finished applying make-up, you couldn\u2019t tell.\u201d<\/p>\n Tina Rahimi: \u201cAt last year\u2019s world championships in Turkey, I had bruises all around my eyes \u2026 But by the time I\u2019d finished applying make-up, you couldn\u2019t tell.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n Asked if she found any contradiction between beautifying her clients and reorganising the faces of her opponents, she responded with a tale.<\/p>\n \u201cI sparred with a girl once,\u201d she said. \u201cI broke her nose but she already had breathing problems, so it wasn\u2019t the result of my lack of discipline in the ring. I didn\u2019t feel good about it, even if she already had problems. I ended up doing her make-up for her. As soon as it happened, I said, \u2018You\u2019re coming to my studio free of charge\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n At 27, Tina will be competing in an Olympics at the same age her father was when he was deprived of representing Australia at a Games. Michael Rahimi was born in Iran but lived in Denmark before migrating to Australia. A former national freestyle wrestling champion in both Iran and Denmark, he made it a third country when he won the 90kg title in Australia in 1991.<\/p>\n He set his sights on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, saying at the time: \u201cI really want to represent Australia because it is a multicultural country and there are good people here.\u201d<\/p>\n Tina Rahimi takes on England\u2019s Sameenah Toussaint at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n However, Australia\u2019s wrestling federation was sending athletes only in the 68kg and 74kg classes, so Michael shed weight to attempt the lower division and wrestle for the Oceania championship in Samoa. But as with earlier world championships and Commonwealth Games, he was unable to attract sponsorship and could not fund his travel.<\/p>\n Now, however, the taxpayer has helped send his daughter to world championships in Turkey and India, a Commonwealth Games and to the Pacific Games, where her peppery punching led to the Oceania crown.<\/p>\n The only parallel with her father\u2019s era is that qualification for the Olympics is now back via Oceania, compared to a decade ago when boxers competed with the best of Asia.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s determined dozen includes Tokyo bronze medallist Harry Garside and Caitlin Parker, a world championships silver medallist and Australia\u2019s first two-time female boxing Olympian. Teremoana jnr, the genial, confident Queenslander, has also qualified in the super-heavyweight division (92kg+).<\/p>\n Tina Rahimi\u2019s father, Michael, wanted to compete at the Barcelona Olympics but could not raise enough funding for the trip.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n With only one of Australia\u2019s 13 boxers in Honiara not selected for Paris, it suggests qualification is easier and, therefore, the chances of winning an Olympic medal are harder. However, the path to the podium in Paris is shorter than in most other sports. A boxer may need to win only two bouts to make the semi-finals, meaning a guaranteed bronze medal. This raises the issue of cost per Olympic medal.<\/p>\n The Australian Sports Commission includes boxing with taekwondo and judo in its combat institute sports. They collectively received $340,000 of $20 million in a funding package for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics that was announced in July. The combat sports also received $375,000 from a further $5 million of funding in September, of which boxing\u2019s allocation was $165,000. Boxing\u2019s share of $25 million could be as low as $280,000 with 12 medal chances, compared with a team sport, such as men\u2019s rugby sevens, which receives more funding, has more players and competes for just one medal.<\/p>\n An ASC spokesperson pointed out that the Honiara haul was recent and said an uplift in AIS funding would be announced soon, which may benefit the boxers.<\/p>\n That will be good news for Rahimi, who has already abandoned the make-up artist business for the brutal beauty of boxing, trading in the powder puffs for the heavy bags.<\/p>\n \u201cI am now training twice a day for six days a week,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get to Paris and represent Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about going to the City of Love to fight, Fahimi said: \u201cI might find love there but, in the meantime, my love of boxing will do. I fell in love with it the moment I started. I didn\u2019t want to stop. It felt so good.\u201d<\/p>\n She impresses as someone who has, for now, found a companion in the sweet science; a partner who is good if treated right and one who is with her all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has taken me this far,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
From our partners<\/h3>\n