Become an Ambassador

My name is Mariam Abdul-Rashid, and I am a 100m hurdler for Team Canada. Since I was six years old, I’ve dreamed of competing in the Olympics. I had a fantastic high school career, but in college, injuries took a toll on my performance and my spirit. My mental health suffered.

Returning home to Canada was a pivotal moment for me. I knew that I wanted to keep pursuing my Olympic dream, but I had to embrace my own pace and accept where I was in that moment. Home was the place where I had once built myself into a great athlete, and I knew I could do it again.

With the support of therapy, new coaching, and physical rehab, I began to dismantle the pressures of where I “should be.” I focused on healing and improving myself one day at a time.

Today, I am proud to call myself an Olympian, the 2024 national champion, and #3 all-time 100m hurdler in Canadian history. My journey has taught me the power of resilience and the importance of believing in myself, no matter the obstacles.

I found that the prevalent issue within professional surfing lies in the lack of diversity of an athlete’s story, where success is predominantly associated with those who started their surfing journey at a young age and dedicated their upbringing solely to the pursuit of excellence in this sport.

So, embarking on this journey, I didn’t know how to train or even where to start this journey…the roadmap simply did not exist. So, I decided to forge my own.

As a full-time student and caseworker, I’ve always struggled with finding the balance in life. Life can feel very demanding for me with very little wiggle room, especially when you are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In these moments I tend to lean on the reminder that I am not in competition with anyone. A friend reminded me that life is not about the destination but the journey.

Embracing your pace for me is simply that, taking every moment as it comes and allowing the journey to guide rather than overwhelm you. There will always be hard moments and joyful ones too but if we forget about our why and shift our gaze elsewhere, we can get lost in this game we call life.

Embrace YOUR journey, Embrace YOUR story, Embrace YOUR pace.

Everyone has a pace, right? But does everyone follow their own or conform to the pace of their surroundings?  Well, I’ve been able to stay up even when I was down because I followed through with my pace.

About a year ago, I was working for a new pro football league and made it to week 8 of a 10-week season. Four days before the week 8 game, I, along with thousands of others, was fired on Twitter. Crazy right?! How about you add to the story that I was living in Florida at the time (I’m from LA). To add more to the story, my lease to my apartment was up in a week.

It wasn’t time for panicking; it was time to embrace where I was and make a move to the next opportunity. I made the move from Florida to Las Vegas in a span of two weeks with nothing lined up. I had one friend in Vegas who had a couch for me, so I took it.

Sitting here looking at this one year later, I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t know I would bounce back. The whole idea of embracing your pace is to follow what’s right for you. My time in Florida was over, so I had to embrace it and make a new move. Today I’m back like I didn’t fall off- working at UNLV and also a Realtor. I could have panicked in my situation, but I didn’t. I embraced it and took it the best I could at my own pace.

If there’s anyone out there in a hole, remember this is your story. Follow your pace and write your story how you intend it to be.

In the meantime l chose to give myself grace throughout the growing pains and to embrace the new lessons I learn about myself on a daily basis.