CAIRO: Three female Arab fitness stars have been announced as the crowd-drawing speakers at a Dubai-based women’s empowerment event scheduled for next month. Saja Kamal, Elham Al- Qasimi and Amna Al-Haddad are set to deliver inspirational speeches about their sports achievements alongside other speakers at the “Ladies with Zest” event on April 9. The event encourages entrepreneurs, activists, philanthropists and sporting personalities who break boundaries to share their knowledge to inspire other women. Saudi football player Kamal has represented her nation at several sports competitions around the world. She joined the UK-based Arsenal Ladies Club at the age of four and describes herself as passionate about human rights. In 2017, she broke the Guinness World Record along with 29 other women when they played the world’s highest FIFA-regulated football match atop Mount Kilimanjaro. UAE national Al-Qasimi became the first Emirati and Arab woman to reach the North Pole in 2010 and also carried the Olympics torch at the 2012 games held in London. Meanwhile, Emirati weightlifting champion Al-Haddad was the first Arab woman to compete in the Reebok CrossFit Asia Regionals in Seoul in 2012. The following year, she became the first competitive hijab-wearing weightlifter from the Gulf to qualify for the Olympics.