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Faith

Weightlifting Federation Amends Dress Code, Allows ‘Unitards’ to Benefit Muslim Woman

Jul. 1, 2011 7:41am Billy Hallowell

In an effort to accommodate a Muslim woman’s religious limitations, the International Weightlifting Federation has made substantial changes to its dress code. On Wednesday, the organization amended its rules and will now allow athletes to wear full-body unitards. A unitard is an extremely tight one-piece garment that has long legs and sometimes long sleeves.

Prior to the change, the IWF would not allow any “costumes” that had collars or that covered an individual’s elbows or knees. If these body parts are concealed, competitors could secretly use supports that would unfairly elevate their performance. But, in the spirit of inclusion, an exception to this rule has been made. CNN has more about the woman who inspired these changes:

[Kulsoom] Abdullah, a 35-year-old with a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering, is not an Olympic athlete, but enjoys lifting weights.

She generally wears loose, long pants past the ankles, a long-sleeve, fitted shirt with a loose T-shirt over it, and a hijab, or head scarf, covering her hair.

“It’s what I believe in. It’s what I’ve chosen to do,” Abdullah told CNN this month about her decision to wear modest garb. “I’ve always dressed this way publicly.”

The Atlanta resident inspired the IWF to review its clothing policies when she was told that she could not participate in some tournaments without compromising her religious garb.

Abdullah understands the need to ensure she isn’t wearing knee or elbow supports and she has offered to allow the IWF to check her prior to competition. Now that the situation has been settled, the woman will be able to compete in upcoming tournaments.

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Comments (169)

powhatan
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 10:45am
are there a lot of muslim women wrestlers? what, on late night pay tv or something?

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let us prey
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 10:19am
Immigrants, not the American citizens must adapt.
People come here because this country is great. We continually let the people who come here for freedom impose their agendas on us. We will not be the great country for long if this continues. There are more agendas everyday being pushed down out throats. Where will it end?

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Baikonur
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:37am
@mramise
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:12am
‘Nothing to see here please move along…………….just the changing of the entire American culture’
***********
How is allowing a change in uniform for an athlete, a change that has no impact on other athletes, or on the fairness of the competition equal ‘the changing of the entire American culture’? Would you be as upset about this non-issue if the athlete was an Amish or a Jewish Orthodox woman? Both of those groups also have religious restrictions on attire.

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brntout
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:32am
well censorship is alive and well,Thanks Blaze now boot me off if that was so offensive to you

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RepubliCorp
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:17am
I am okay with this but my S&W has a bad case of islamophobia.

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- pappy
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:52am
  @Republicorp – I’m sorry to hear about your S&W. Please have it take two Hornady HP’s and call me in the morning.
  
  In fact, now that you mention it, I believe all 3 of my Glocks have been acting rather unusual lately. I wonder if it can be islamophobia? I need to make a trip to the range right away! I don’t want it to become chronic…
  
  Report this comment
mramise
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:12am
Nothing to see here please move along…………….nothing to see here please move along……….just the changing of the entire American culture……….nothing to see here move along……….

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Pyx
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:06am
When the LEFT controls the language, the LEFT controls the argument.

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beachmom
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:04am
It will show us that muslims can be athletes, etc? Of course they CAN be whatever they want. The same as the rest of us.
The dress code was about people feeling threatened? That’s their favorite line.
Most of us are just annoyed that people and organizations continue to give in to their demands and fear mongering and politically correct paralysis.
And to go to CAIR for comment?
Dhimmitude in the making.

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Baikonur
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:58am
How does her attire harm any of you guys? Why does it make you so angry? She agreed to have knees/elbows checked prior to competition.

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MaggieRose
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:55am
un-be-FREAK-in-leaveable!!! Change the rules for one woman… sharia is no longer creeping… it’s runnning full-tilt and we’re letting it in. No longer is the camel’s nose under the tent… the camel has knocked down the tent, set up shop, and we’re feeding it our best hay.

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Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:48am
Blaze: default newest to oldest, please. I don’t like this newest filter. The forum was fine the way it was. What you REALLY need is a spell-checker and a way to change fonts and bold/italic, or make it proof-readable before posting. Just my two cents.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:40am
@Equal Justice:

The churches here in my community are making a rallying cry to the Restoring Courage event as we can get the people togeather; sad to say though, there is so much opposition it may only be a few of us who do so from the state – so be it though, we stand with Israel and for America togeather or we will go into the night seperatly.

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- MaggieRose
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:57am
  hmmm… interesting idea! I may bring this up to my church leaders
  
  Report this comment
heavyduty
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:35am
I guess that they are going to keep kissing the butts of Islamic idiots until they break their necks. Either that or they will behead them.

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psst
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:32am
BTW Blaze. Why not set the default to newest to oldest instead of oldest to newest? Just a thought.
Now for the weightlifting Moslem wimmens?
The European countries are being overwhelmed w. Moslems. Even Moslems who are born in these countries puts their loyalties to their religion and the countries of their forebears.
Here in ameriKa, illegals are overwhelming US also. Many loyalties lies in their Motherland. Like booing the US soccor team in La. BTW. LA deserves the booing.
The Western world is committing Seppucu.
Europe ,like the US is awashed w/ liberalism, fostered from childhood by the publiK sKrool and the marxist controlled universities , not the mention the MSM,controlled by the NWO/OWG Cabal w/ their 25/8 leftist indoctrinations/.prpoagandas..
Majorities in the Western World are acting like they are the minorities in their own countries.
Turd Worlders moves in, outbreeds them and outvotes them w/ the help from communists and socilists promoting their cause of bringing “Their” countries into the countries of others.
They come not to assimliate,but to eventually take over.IOW.no need to go to war to take over a country anymore,.Too bloody and expensive, and you may lose.It’s best to plan long term and outbreed.Conquor from w/in,native socialists and marxists will lend a helping hand.

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cece959
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:31am
A muslim, female weightlifter who wears the equivalent of a head-to-toe sweatsuit in which to workout…I hope she has a good deodorant, because they sweat like pigs…oops.

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EqualJustice
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:30am
If this makes you angry, then get INVOLVED in the Restoring Courage event in your own state. We are having a huge event with a viewing party after. It will be a world wide event to bring the focus back to our actual FRIENDS in the Middle East. – STAND WITH ISRAEL.. Christians and Jews United for Israel. If Israel falls so will the USA and the Muslims will take over. I will never live under Sharia law.

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tersky
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:28am
Good grief people! All she’s asking is that she be able to dress modestly while she competes! Chill already.

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- endgamer
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:36am
  no it is sharia infiltrating everywhere. Who’s competition is it? Yours? If it was yours and you made the rules then ok.. Making special exceptions like TSA and other BS isn’t going to fly in a free country.
  Rules are rules..period. Again, have a Muslim competition and see who shows up.. I’m hearing crickets…
  
  Report this comment
- TulsaYeeHaw
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 10:59am
  Agreed. As a weightlifter, the only concern should be cheating in competition.
  
  Report this comment
- TCPatriot
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 7:19pm
  You need to wake up!
  
  Report this comment
endgamer
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:26am
How much more of this BS do we have to take… HAVE your OWN weightlifting tourney and wear your own garb. Wear a cardboard box for all I care. Do not ask for “special” treatment at a free world competition because you are Muslim. Do we have a nuke button we can press? I’m tired of this.

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kickagrandma
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:19am
AMERICA IS ANTI-muslime!

Stand up, AMERICA!

muslimes are welcomed to live in muslimandia, which is in the middle east. GO HOME!!!!! you are neither welcomed nor wanted here. EVER.

Readers can readily see why liberal posts do not welcome my comments. That’s OK. Stay in the dark if you choose.

I choose THE LIGHT of GOD. JESUS freed women years ago. muslimes do not want women freed.

Having encountered some hidden muslime women, I can attest to the fact, that they are equally as dangerous as their male counterparts. Cuidate, AMERICA. They are our enemy!

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texan59
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:16am
I guess she lifts weights so she can do the heavy lifting for the weinie-boys in her local mosque. Why in the world does everyone have to accomodate these people? Why do we now have minority rule for every absurd activity. I wonder if I went to the NFL, they would change their rules to allow me to be the starting quarterback for a team because my church – “the tabernacle of the frustrated, overweight, unable to throw a football 30 yards, too short, too old, wannabe be famous”, wants me to!

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- heavyduty
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:38am
  Yeah, but there is some cleric out there that will call for her head on a pole for lifting weights. They have a law against everything.
  
  Report this comment
UlyssesP
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:08am
“a Muslim woman’s religious limitations”
I thought those limitations involved getting beat, raped and stoned to death..

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- streetrodder
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:21am
  Women better watch out, soon they won’t be allowed to drive. LOL
  
  Report this comment
- calonzap
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 5:53pm
  That, in itself, might be a hell of a good idea.
  
  Report this comment
- StargazerInSavannah
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 5:46pm
  Sounds like the very next step for the progressives. How could anyone not support a progressive idea like that?
  
  Report this comment
- canuck44
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 4:25pm
  And replaced with a sheep or goat whenever she has a headache.
  
  Report this comment
NHABE64
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:08am
Once again we have a FOREIGNER coming her and pushing THEIR customs on us. Maybe they would like to see al American women in those wretched burquas to they feel more comfortable. What a crock of crap. Stop giving in, this is America and that is NOT our custom. Try going to ANY other country and forcing our customs on them. They would tell us to hit the road. Just another piece of America being chipped away by these disgusting people.

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RustyElbows
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:06am
Chip….. Chip….. Chipping away

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- GEW
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 12:53am
  Exactly right!
  
  Report this comment
conservativeme
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 7:55am
“Islamaphobia”????? What a joke. See how the far left spins everything. If you don’t agree, you’re a phobic. How about all the “Conservaphobics?” and the “Truthaphobics?” and the “Christaphobics?”. This word has gone nutsy-coo-coo . . .

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- jeff.cooper
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:09am
  Agreed.
  
  Report this comment
- John 3:16
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:43am
  @ conservativeme. Right on brother/sister you tell it!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Pancho3
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 2:02pm
  “Christaphobics”
  Why don’t we call them what they are, Anti-Christ?
  
  Report this comment
Ballgame
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 7:51am
I’m sick and tired of the word islamophobia.

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- booger71
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:17am
  Should have called them mooselimotards.
  
  Report this comment
- pappy
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:20am
  Sorry…. I don’t feel I’m “phobic” with respect to islam or muslims. I make it very clear. I do not like them. I do not trust them. I do not want them in my country. After a thorough & proper screening, after they PROVE they aren’t radical, then & only then, c’mon over. Get a JOB, Earn a living & enjoy the American way. Beyond that, sorry…. I am not islamophobic or musliphobic. I don’t like them.
  
  In GOD We Trust
  Remember 9/11/01…
  (and the friends & family I lost that day)
  
  Report this comment
- EqualJustice
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:24am
  Don’t you just LOVE liberal “Lingo” haha They have their own language and made up words. :)
  
  Report this comment
- SpankDaMonkey
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:31am
  .
  Take away the Uni, and you’ll hit the nail right on the head…………….
  
  Report this comment
- SpankDaMonkey
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:46am
  .
  Ya know, one day us white folks needs to stands up for us some rights too……
  
  I just saying……
  
  Report this comment
- ottodiedacktick
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:54am
  This story is not even in the ballpark! American Islamophobia? In America, Muslims are free to practice
  their religion by CHOICE and not by FORCE or THREAT. In America, a Muslim has more freedom than
  in Saudi Arabia or any Muslim country.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:54am
  WTF? Is Rhonda Pence a muslim? Why was she wearing a head-scarf? Trying to show unity for the cult? The IWF had concerns about athletes potential cheating, now how will they know if their elbows are locked, bring in a body scanner? I think muslims are just assimilate-o-phobes.
  
  Report this comment
- His Lamb is Satanic
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 11:37am
  Moose limbs are americaphobes, and should be kicked out of the country. Burka slits do make excellent target reference points?
  
  Report this comment
- Baikonur
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:56am
  LOL, Aaron, you captured the insanity perfectly. :)
  
  Report this comment
- pavepaws
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:43am
  Unitard? Not tight enough. Pat her down before competition? Yes.
  
  Report this comment
- Sheepdog911
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:59am
  Wow, Pigs in a blanket have always turned my stomach.
  
  Report this comment
- jb.kibs
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 11:15am
  they look like hood rats. just saying.
  
  Report this comment
- PubliusPencilman
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 11:54am
  Well, I think the solution might be to NOT have an irrational fear of all things Islamic.
  
  Report this comment
- MONICNE
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:31pm
  It would be better to call Islamophobics the very descriptive term, UNITARDS
  
  Report this comment
- banjarmon
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:44pm
  Why not go back to the way the Greeks did it?….EVERYBODY run NAKED!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Bear
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 2:09pm
  Why does the Muslim world require foreign,female Journalist to wear a head covering when that is not the Religion they choose?? Why don’t they lift such restriction,,,why the double standard??? Since when does the IWF make Religion a part of their dress Code???? Islam is becoming the cry baby of the world,,what a Silly Religion! Grow up all you Stupid,Liberal,Hippie Morons!
  
  Report this comment
- New_Crusader
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 3:21pm
  I am not an Islamophobe. I am an Islamotaed. From the Latin Taedium meaning disgust. I am disgusted by Islam and it’s moon rock worshiping followers.
  
  Report this comment
- Now this is Art
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:22pm
  uniTARDs reTARDs…whats the difference
  
  Report this comment
- kNOwKINGsmen
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:44pm
  Yah! What about a Christophobe
  
  Report this comment
- thinkinghuman
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 5:24pm
  That looks completely UNITARDED
  
  Report this comment
- hifi74
  Posted on July 1, 2011 at 6:20pm
  I’m done posting here Blaze until you fix this debacle that is the new posting system. This is ridiculous.
  
  Report this comment
- gepeterson
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 7:43am
  DUDE! that is just a sick sick thing to think!
  
  Report this comment
- ireport uderide
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 8:05am
  Ok, I was ready to say “you go girl”! Only because I could care less about what she wears while lifting weights.
  
  Then I started to Google…
  
  Ibrahim Ramey. Human Rights Activist?
  Muslim Brotherhood’s Muslim American Society
  
  This next one will open your eyes.
  
  PressTVGlobalNews
  Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran.
  
  Press TV is state-funded and is a division of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
  
  I only researched these extremists because some of the comments on this story seemed a bit over the top. But the Blaze readers really do have some sort of “Spidey” senses.
  
  Report this comment
- Beckofile
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 10:39am
  Then put on your Burkini and head for a code pink rally. I am sure they are just fighting for EQUAL rights? Not all Islamics are terrorist but all terrorist are Islamic. Been happening for thousands of years and has not changed much?
  
  Report this comment
- mrdbcooper
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 4:41pm
  how many baptists blew up the World Trade Center?
  
  Report this comment
- truthbased
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 4:57pm
  @AARON IN POLK COUNTY that doesn’t help not all are violent many are but being violent ourselves just make it worse
  
  Report this comment
- decendentof56
  Posted on July 2, 2011 at 6:48pm
  Screw the Muslims. Anyway, who the h_ll watches weightlifting. The Muslims keep pushing their agenda, their beliefs, by taking advantage of our Constitutional rights. They will continue to do this until either they have been able to infiltrate our culture like they have in wimpy England and France, or we start to take aggressive, violent action against them, driving them and their 6th century culture back to the Arabian desert.
  
  Report this comment
- stone68
  Posted on July 4, 2011 at 12:27am
  muslims hate you! look at the news they burn your flag hate you and want you to die! they want to kill you! when will you wake up? when they are beating on your door in the middle of the night? i am so pissed off where does it end? buy a gun, prepare cause it is coming
  
  Report this comment

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