Female bodybuilding is not officially recognized by Iran’s Sports Ministry. Shirin graduated from an architectural university, although striving for a beautiful body has become her life-long commitment.
She told Sputnik Iran that she tried bodybuilding in her teens, noting that sport and regular workouts had always been of great help to her in the most difficult life periods:
"I have loved sport since childhood, especially everything that has to do with a beautiful sporty body. That’s why I took the first step toward my dream: as a 14 year-old girl I came to the gym for the first time. I never knew what kind of future awaited me. I just enjoyed every single day and hour I spent training. Even during hard times, I made myself go to work out. I worked more and more, day after day. Sport helped me greatly to get over hardships."
The girl has been supported by her parents all the way. Shirin’s father was a martial arts fighter. The girl learnt how to exercise, including all the corresponding techniques, on her own, without the assistance of coaches:
"I have never trained with a coach. I watched videos and learnt from them, as well as studied bodybuilding magazines, which helped me to gain good experience in the field in just a few years. I won’t deny that if I had a coach and a sport qualification, I would perhaps have achieved even better results."
Shirin is now a female bodybuilding coach, who is sharing her knowledge and skills with others. According to the sportswoman, women’s bodybuilding is more challenging than men’s, due to the physiological differences between the two genders.
Given the fact that female bodybuilding is not officially recognized in Iran, the girl frequently faces misunderstanding and even threats. She has come across quite a few handicaps and difficulties along the way, which she has had to overcome on her own:
"I have been recognized as the only female bodybuilder in Iran. It has been my boldest and most audacious deed in life, as well as the most difficult and dangerous adventure. I have faced hordes of problems and I have been resolving them on my own. I must admit that I had to pay a hefty price for them on more than one occasion," the sportswoman said.
Shirin’s Instagram profile has been blocked for several months:
"My page on Instagram has been unavailable for several months now. I received a lot of threats. Every day I was sent messages from other users who said that they found it hard to see my pictures. Shirin thinks that only sincere love for what she does, as well as total devotion, help her not only to bring up aspiring young sportsmen, but advance herself and achieve her goals.
"Love is the foundation of my success. I have been paid good money for my persistence and energy; I have always brought up successful students, in terms of sport as well as science and coaching. One can compare it to two scale pans. If they are well balanced, then I get stronger in achieving my goals. This is virtually why they became the key 'underpinnings' in my work."
According to the girl, there are a slew of problems that female bodybuilding faces in Iran: starting from a lack of competent sports managers all the way to heavy criticism and even mockery of women engaged in the sport.
The sportswoman hopes that one day she will bring about huge changes to Iran’s female bodybuilding:
"If I could change something, I would start with more efficient management in the sphere. I would create opportunities for motivated youths to grow and thrive, I would find talented people interested in the sport’s development and I would come up with instruments and opportunities to popularize it. I would also employ those who are competent in what they do and who would clean up the mess in today’s female bodybuilding. Separately, I would love to create opportunities for robust and fair competition in the sport.
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Despite all the handicaps, Shirin is not going to stop where she is, but is planning to carry on working in this sphere. "I really, really want to make it till the end. But it is impossible to fulfill it here. Iranian women are perfectly persistent and daring. And I, being an Iranian woman, will continue my way. However, the scope of my work presumably lies somewhere else."
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