If she’s not on your radar already, Tina is an Australian boxer who participated in the 2022 Commonwealth Games (winning Bronze in the Women’s Featherweight Division), and later competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she won the hearts of fans around the world.
Tina was also the first woman to represent Australia in a hijab in boxing – and it’s a feat that she doesn’t take lightly. So, how did taking that title feel?
“It’s pretty significant. It’s got so much importance and it’s just not about me at the end of the day,” Tina says. “I feel like I’ve proven to have broken those barriers and to just show Muslim women that they can feel included in an environment and still feel, like to have that inclusion.”
“I’ve just proven that to so many people and, you know, I get all these messages every day that even though I didn’t go to the Olympics and win a medal, a lot of people messaged me and said, ‘Just the fact that you were there and you’ve inspired so many people is what’s really important.'”
Tina reflects that she still really wanted to take home a medal. “I just really wanted to win, but everyone’s like, you know, the fact that you were in your hijab and you’ve shown little girls and women that they can do anything and still feel included, is what’s most important. You know I think I’ve paved another movement and women can actually say, ‘I can do that.”
In a move that dominated headlines, Tina spoke up against France’s ban on female athletes wearing hijabs at the Olympics – a move for which she was praised both in Australia and beyond.
“I just found it really upsetting. For me, it was like, what if I was in that spot? Like, what if I was in boxing and I enjoyed it and I wanted to represent my country and then all of a sudden I was told that I can’t?” Tina tells Momentum.
“So I really felt for them and I really felt like it wasn’t fair. It’s like, what am I standing for at the end of the day? Like I am representing myself at the Olympics and I’m choosing to wear the hijab in a country where you know, it’s free to do whatever you want. I personally choose to follow my faith and to wear that hijab.
“So I found it unfair to, if someone chooses to do that, why are you going to tell them otherwise? It was really unfair, and I feel like if I didn’t speak about it, then that might close doors for a lot, a lot of other women who are looking into getting into sport and who choose to wear the hijab. And then they can’t, then they know they can’t participate because they’ll have to remove it. So I thought it was really important for a very important part of us as a Muslim woman.”