This is the fourth episode in a series to commemorate International Women’s Day because for us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisdom from an amazing array of women in sport from across the region.  If you haven’t checked out the first and second in the...

This is the third episode in a series to commemorate International Women’s Day because for us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisdom from an amazing array of women in sport from across the region.  If you haven’t checked out the first and second in the...

This is the second episode in the Women of Wisdom, a series to commemorate International Women’s Day. For us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisdom from an amazing array of women in sport from across the region.  If you haven’t checked out the first in the...

This is a very special edition of The  Mettleset Podcast, the first of a series, with episodes going live daily next week as well.  For us, everyday is International Women’s Day as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.  Since our first episode went live in October 2022, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with an amazing array of wise women in sport  - from across the region, and beyond it  - who were kind enough to share their stories,...

Today’s episode is a  continuation of our discussion on female athlete health with Dr Kate Jordan, a sports and exercise medicine physician at based in Dubai. The first part of this REWIND episode came out last week, and you can access it directly from here: EP55: Part 1 Female athlete health: Sports and Exercise Medicine doctor Kate Jordan on common injuries, LEA and right fuelling for performance. In this episode, we go deeper into our discussion on training on your menstrual cycle,...

Concussions, shoulder troubles, ACL tears, low bone density, Low Energy Availability, menopause … Sports, and injuries from it, tend to impact female athletes in a different way to their male counterparts.  Yet, it is only now that awareness and medical research has ramped up around the gender differences in sports medicine.  Joining us on today’s show to discuss some of the most pressing issues in female athlete health is Dr Kate Jordan, a sports and exercise medicine physician at Mediclinic...

It is sport event season in the Middle East and one event that we’re super excited to see roll into Abu Dhabi for its second edition is The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open which is taking place 3-11 February at the International Tennis Center, Zayed Sports City.  In today’s episode, we speak to one of the unsung heroines of the event, Vickie Gunnarss, Senior Director, Global Partnerships and Business Development for IMG Tennis Events. Our Vickie  provides many lessons and learnings for any of our...

Hi Guys, If you’ve arrived at Part 2 of our chat with Ishtar Azzawi, the founder of Baghdad Skate Girls, after listening to Part 1,  fabulous. We hope you enjoyed it! If not, we urge you to head to Part 1 of this episode to listen to the inspiring origin story of a skateboarding community exclusively for women in Iraq.  This instalment dives into Ishtar’s professional sporting career in jiu-jitsu. Since starting the sport, after moving to the UAE in 2011, Ishtar has become a multi-national...

Ishtar Azzawi calls this her planting season. It’s fitting because this jiu-jitsu champ, and our guest, who has represented her country Iraq in the sport while living abroad all her life had always felt that her true calling had gone unanswered. So, last year, she decided to pack her life in the UAE and head home to Baghdad.  The planting season symbolises more than just a departure from the comfort of a privileged life and unrestricted access to resources in professional sport for her. It...

Welcome to 2024 and perhaps one of our most important episodes. This is the story of the Gaza Sunbirds, a Palestinian para-cycling team located in Gaza, as told by Karim Ali, the team’s UK-based International Coordinator. While we wished that sharing this story would have been under better and peaceful circumstances, we’re here to tell you that this is a story of hope and true resilience. A story of Sumud, which is explained in the episode.  Like so many across the world, we’ve found it truly...

Hi Guys, Remember the first time you heard about the sport dressage? Did you have to google it or are you reaching for your phone right now? You’re not alone! Even in a country where we are based - the UAE-  and a region where equestrian traditions date back centuries, dressage (and we’ve just dropped a hint here), is only just growing in popularity. So, what do you find when you google dressage? A captivating equestrian art form, a meticulously orchestrated dance that unfolds gracefully...

As you just heard, The Mettleset is launching a new podcast, The Just Bikes Podcast - hosted by Dawn and friends.  As the name suggests, the podcast is all about bikes. From ultra- to adventure, the pain cave to the peloton and lots of type-two fun, The Just Bikes Podcast will feature a host of guests from all over the world to talk about all things cycling and cycling culture.  Follow us on IG at @justbikesthepodcast. Don’t forget to subscribe, like and leave a review wherever you get your...

This is Part Two of two of our chat with 15 year-old Emirati snowboarder Amenah Al Muhairi, and her mum Maya!  If you haven’t checked out Part One, you may want to pause and go back and do that now! It’s a great chat about Amenah’s start in sports, her and her family’s approach to training as well as wise words from Amenah herself.  In this - Part Two, we’re chatting through Amenah’s future plans including Olympic aspirations, and the wonderful support she’s received through sponsors. We also...

This episode follows UAE National Day 🇦🇪, when everyone living in the UAE celebrates the independence of the country, 52 years ago. This is a young country with a rich history and a vibrancy that is hard to beat. That’s why it's a pleasure today to have a rising Emirati star - and our youngest guest ever -, 15 year-old snowboarder Amenah Al Muhairi as our guest.  Yes, you heard that correctly, Amenah is an up and coming snowboarder hailing from the United Arab Emirates, a country where winter...

Today’s guest is the most successful female sailor in Olympic history, Hannah Mills, OBE.  Among Hannah’s many accolades are a Silver in the 2012 London Olympics, a Gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and another gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  That’s certainly not where it started or ended for Hannah with multiple gold, silver and bronze medals to her name from the World Championships, World Junior Championships, European Championships and European Junior Championships.  In this episode, we chat...

When we sat down with Nadhira Al Harthy for this episode in early October, we knew that we were going to discuss her journey to become the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest. We also knew we’d discuss how she became the first Arab woman to climb Ama Dablam, one of the most beautiful and technical peaks in Nepal.  What we didn’t know, and as she announced on our show, is that she has become the first ever civilian woman to be embedded with Oman’s military mountaineering team where she...

Thanks for listening. As we mentioned, here are some resources and information below.  Remember, your voice matters! 🇵🇸 Relief Efforts  Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)- https://www.pcrf.netEmirates Red Crescent - https://www.emiratesrc.aeInternational Committee of the Red Cross - https://www.icrc.org/en  Share Your voice, If you live in Canada, Australia, the UK or the US, please find below links to help contact your elected representatives:  🇨🇦 📝Canada -  Independent Jewish Voices...

Hi Guys, Our show today is as power-packed as our guest when the gun goes off on a run track. Aziza Sbaity, who has earned the title of the Fastest Woman in Lebanese History, joined us for a chat right after her first track and field training session of the season - as she starts her prep to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Aziza has come out of a very busy first half of the year, winning gold in the 200m sprint at the West Asian Athletics Championships in April, at the Arab Athletics...

Today’s guest is one of the next generation of Saudi Arabian sports leaders.  Jude Jamjoon is the Co-Founder and President of Jeddah Tribe and to call this a Tri Club, would be accurate but it would miss the fact that it is also an event series and really at its core, a robust community that offers training, mentorship, support & encouragement for triathletes of all levels, including those who are yet to become triathletes.  This episode is about the power of community or tribe as it...

Hi guys,  Our guest today is from Morocco, a country that was recently rocked by a devastating earthquake. We would like to take a moment to acknowledge the loss that Morocco has experienced and our thoughts are with its people during this difficult time. We’ve also linked some global aid initiatives that you can support below.  Back to today’s guest and an honest unveiling of the hustle behind the glamour of professional golf. Moroccan golfer Maha Haddioui made headlines when she became the...

Today’s guest is from one of the flattest countries in the world, Bahrain.  In fact, the highest point in the entire country is only 134m above sea level and that’s not even open to the public.  Why is that relevant you may ask?   Well, our guest today just completed what is widely considered the hardest ultramarathon in the world, UTMB.  For those who don’t know UTMB stands for the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc, a 171 km trail race with 10,000m of elevation -  all with a time limit of 46 hours...

Hello Dawn here,  I hope you’re all doing well. Summer 2023 is over and well, mine was EPIC with not one, but two adventures involving bikes.  Today’s episode is all about bikepacking in South Korea, more specifically, the 4 Rivers BIke Path in South Korea:  approx 600 km of mostly car-free, dedicated bike paths extending from the Capital city, Seoul, to the southern sea-side city of Busan. I did this in four and a half days in early July.  In today’s episode, Afshan and I chatted through...

Hi Guys - Afshan here Dawn and I are enjoying a summer away from our adopted home Dubai, but are always thinking about you, our listeners, and how we can bring you the most diverse and relatable chats with athletes from the region and beyond. If you’ve arrived at our show for the first time - welcome, there’s a lot of amazing content to go through, and hit that like and subscribe button for future updates and episodes. If you’ve been following us for a while, you’re always in good company....

Hi, Dawn here, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. Before I get into this episode, we want to remind you that we now have a YouTube channel. Expect video episodes - live right now- and new and fun types of content. Please subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@themettleset  So back to this episode. This is the start of a new series which is dedicated to the Beginner Mindset. If you’ve been following along you’ll know that throughout the podcast, we’ve had the opportunity to talk with...