CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian female bodybuilder Dina Abdel Maksoud has had to overcome prejudice as well as fellow competitors to become a champion.
In a country where bodybuilding is widely viewed as the province of men, the 21-year-old has spent eight years pumping iron and defying social norms.
She spends on average two hours at the gym each day, but double when she trains for a competition. In October she won golds at two events in Ukraine.
“If you train for bodybuilding you will achieve your dreams. If a woman trains hard, she can be stronger than the strongest of men. So, do not let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do,” she said.
Reporting by Sherif Fahmy and Amr Abdallah Dalsh; Writing by Seham Eloraby; Editing by Yousef Saba and John Stonestreet