Hijab-wearing woman defies critics with Ironman race

Описание: (9 May 2017) LEADIN:
A Hijab-wearing woman is defying her critics and training for an Ironman challenge.
Nudzejma Softic has already completed three marathons - always wearing a headscarf.
STORYLINE:
There's no let up in her training schedule.
Nudzejma Softic is running through a park in Sarajevo as she prepares for a long distance triathlon challenge known as a half Ironman.
When she took up running in 2015 she didn't think her hijab would be a problem. But she has since found it does make exercise more difficult.
"When I started running for real, I discovered that it does add some burden because it blocks the circulation of air around here (pointing to her neck area) and I get hotter than others," she says.
"However, it is just a boost to my motivation."
Softic only got into the sport because she wanted to keep active after work.
But she quickly found a passion and a natural aptitude for running and now has three international marathons and 17 other races under her belt.
She's shared her progress on social media and has had a lot of reactions - not all positive.
"People are either absolutely supportive, they follow my progress and offer to help me prepare in any way they can, including with positive comments, or they are extremely negative and comment by saying that I should stay at home, get married and bear children," she says.
"I am grateful to those who support me, but I am even more grateful to those who do not. The critics push me forward because I want to prove to them that I can achieve anything I want."
And her next goal is to complete a half Ironman race Zell am See, Austria.
It is set for August and will consist of a 1.9 kilometre (1.2 mile) swim, a 90 kilometre (56 mile) bike ride and a 21.1 kilometre (13.1 mile) run.
And Softic has had to conquer a major milestone to take part: before she started training for the Ironman, she couldn't swim.
It's hard to believe that as she effortlessly glides along the lanes of the Olympic pool.
"I think that overcoming the fear of water, deep water that is, is the greatest achievement of my preparations for the Ironman," she says.
"I was able to float on the water, but I used to stay close to the edge of the swimming pool and would not go further than to where I could touch the bottom with my feet."
Her progress has impressed fellow amateur athlete Nermin Palic.
"She is very strong-willed and I think that nothing will be a problem for her," he says.
She's now focussing on her training so that in August she can again prove to her critics that wearing a hijab doesn't need to hold women back.

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