Excellence in Motion

2024 Issue No. 2

When you Google “Aziza Sbaity,” a summary of her Wikipedia page appears above the headline “People also search for,” beneath which you’ll find a who’s who of inspirational women from the Middle East. When you Google “Charbel Farah,” you’ll come across an article about his gold medal performance at the 2022 Asian International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Championship. Together, Farah and Sbaity are the first two recipients of the President’s Athletic Scholarship at AUB. “These are pretty high-level athletes we’re talking about,” says University Athletics Director Tarek Abou Omar.

Sbaity is the current Lebanese national record holder for the 100-meter sprint. She first broke the record in 2018 and has since broken it six more times. Her sprinting journey began when she moved to Lebanon at the age of 12, following the breakout of civil war in Liberia, where she’d spent her childhood. “First, I beat the girls in my school, then the boys. One boy was really angry I’d beaten him because he’d been the fastest at the school.” Today, in between coursework—she’s working toward an MBA—Sbaity is aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Farah, a political studies major, is equally ambitious. “I want a UFC belt,” he says, referring to mixed martial arts (MMA)’s premier professional organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Like Sbaity, he began training at age 12.

“I started training twice a week and wrestling with my father at home. He acted like we were playing, but it was actually wrestling.” Today, he trains three hours a day and fights in international competitions.

Sprinting is already a collegiate sport in Lebanon. MMA is not, but Abou Omar believes it might be in the future. Until then, Charbel will compete for AUB in wrestling and grappling. “The ultimate goal is to build athletic potential in Lebanon, first at the university level, and then more generally. Right now, the culture here is ‘Rooh 3ala darsak, shoo badak biryada!’ [What are you going to get from playing sports, go to class!]” But these athletes prove that both are possible at AUB.