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PESHAWAR: Maryam Nasim, an athlete from Pakistan’s conservative northwestern city of Peshawar, faced many challenges when she moved to Australia for her studies but found her new passion – powerlifting – she told Arab News.
Nasim won a bronze medal at the Avia Powerlifting competition in Melbourne on Sunday, despite having sustained a back injury earlier.
“I took part in the event although I had an injury. But still, I was able to secure the bronze medal,” she told Arab News.
Back in August 2017, she had won a silver medal in another weightlifting championship in Melbourne.
Nasim said she was trying to break stereotypes about Pakistani women in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in particular.
After completing her early education in Peshawar, she moved to Australia where she did her bachelors in accounting at Canberra University.
She has lived in Australia for the past 10 years and currently works for one of the major Australian banks.
“I did not train as a powerlifter in Pakistan,” she said. “I did not initially think of starting powerlifting but when I reached Australia and started taking care of my fitness, I noticed during my workouts that I could lift weights and so I developed a liking for it.”
Nasim also worked as a model but had to abandon that career as her family did not approve of it. “Now my family likes my sport,” she said.
“My family’s support is one of the major reasons behind my success in weightlifting.” 
My fans on social media are also a great emotional support for me, she said. “Every day, after finishing my job, I go weightlifting.” 
She also runs a fitness blog, which is aimed to encourage people to look after themselves and their health in general.
“I want to improve the image of Muslim women, to show the international community that Pakistani women can do much and show their talent. I want to present myself as a strong Muslim woman here in Australia.”
She added that she wanted to show through her sport that Pakistani parents also allow their daughters to participate in sports and “they are not merely sitting in homes.”
Nasim added that at international level, Muslims are maligned and that she wants to dispel that bad impression about Muslims in Australia and show the positive side.
She said that now she was also trying to improve herself further. “Within two years, I see myself to be a far better athlete competing at international level.”