DUBAI — Mo Rahma, the first international surfer from the UAE is set to take the Dubai Fitness Challenge in a slightly different way competing in 30 different sports in 30 days this month. Rahma, who learned surfing in the wavepool in Dubai, is always inspiring himself to complete a new challenge. With this month the Dubai Fitness Challenge on his calendar, he wants to inspire other people in the UAE to participate in any sport they can for 30 days. In 2019 he already completed the usual 30 minutes of exercise in 30 days. This year he wants to push himself through to another limit; trying 30 different sports in 30 consecutive days. His love for sport began with a career as an international football star and played for Dubai Football club. And then moved to play rugby internationally where he lined up for the UAE national team and Arabian Gulf representative side on the wing and big things were predicted for the promising player. But in a match at the Dubai Sevens, Rahma ruptured his ACL. It was an injury that ruled him out of competitive sport for an unknown period. During his recovery he fell in love with surfing. There was a new star born who was a quick learner and after 2 years he competed already at professional level in Los Angeles. Later he became the first UAE international surfer and last year he tried to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. Due to the pandemic the qualifications were canceled, and he had to wait as anyone else to qualify himself. A tough year as an athlete but that was not the only setback for him in 2020. Rahma has been fighting the battle against ulcerative colitis for 15 years. Almost five months ago he was diagnosed with colon cancer. That moment his life stopped for a while. Three months ago, Rahma had the biggest surgery in his life so far. He had his colon removed and replaced with an ileostomy bag. It’s been three months since the operation, and he is in the process of recovering. This challenge means a lot for him. He is fighting to get back on his surfboard again. Rahma said, “Since I just had my surgery, I will be showing you how I’m pushing my limits. This journey is to figure out what you can do and what you can’t do with ileostomy bag. My aim is to push hard to get back on my board and charge big waves again.” With this challenge he wants to encourage other people in the UAE to be active in November in any sport they can. He wants to show the world how to fight against the ongoing battle, to keep a positive mindset and to be a mentor for people who have gone through the same. With this challenge he wants to let them know they are not alone. — SG