Samah Syed #WonderWomenWednesday

Samah Syed, 21 years old and a student of the University of Ottawa has recently attended the 2014 International Taekwon-Do Federation World Championships, which, were hosted in Rome, Italy from July 23 to 27. The ITF World Championships happen very two years and this year; over 500 competitors came from 32 different countries to compete. The Canadian Delegation consisted of 40 athletes and 40 supporters and brought home 90 medals in total. Samah Syed, a Canadian-Pakistani has been doing Taekwon-Do for 17 years and still continuing, participated in the ITF World Championships for the second time. She is a third degree blackbelt and brought back 4 medals from this years championship in the following categories: Bronze in Individual Patterns, Bronze in Team Patterns, Bronze in Team Sparring and Bronze in Special Technique. Over the course of two years, Samah attended several competitions and ranked to be part of the Canadian delegation.
"Competing for the second time at the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships, the feeling was surreal. It was a huge accomplishment for something I have been working on for approximately two years. The first time I competed back in 2007, I was a junior and brought back 2 silvers and 1 bronze for all team events. However, this time around was my first time winning an individual medal, which was amazing. I felt that all of the hard work I have been putting in for so many years have finally shown through my first bronze medal in Individual Patterns. I also received 3 bronze medals in Team Patterns, Sparring and Special Technique.

My experience as a young female athlete in sports is that not to feel underestimated by men. Just because men are doing it, so can women and if you are passionate and willing to do something, go ahead and do it. You never know what you can accomplish and succeed unless you try. Many people are afraid to try new things but you'll never know what you really like until you give a try. I would say is that try new things, don't give up and even if you're really passionate about anything in life, keep working hard because one day you'll succeed and feel astonished about what you have done."