Kulsoom Abdullah

Kulsoom Beenazir Abdullah Kakakhel (born 12 March 1976) is a Pakistani-American weightlifter who became the first female weightlifter representing Pakistan when she competed at the 2011 World Championships. The same year she made history when, in keeping with her religious views, she became the first woman to compete in hijab (head scarf), covered arms and legs after the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) modified its rules to accommodate her request to do so.

Biography Kulsoom Abdullah was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Okeechobee, Florida. She frequently visited Pakistan while growing up and speaks Pashto. She has a Master's degree and PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She began weightlifting while she was a graduate student as a training method for taekwondo. After being denied the right to compete at a USA National Weightlifting competition in modest clothing, where CEO John Duff in an email to Abdullah “As USA Weightlifting is governed by the rules of the International Weightlifting Federation, we must adhere to those regulations and therefore reject your request, as is, to modify your competition costume,” Kulsoom Abdullah sought help from Civil Rights and government organizations. Because USAW and USOC are private organizations, they could not help her. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release on her behalf. She received attention from National and International news outlets about her challenge to compete at USA National competitions. After the media attention and CAIR's intervention, the USOC and USAW agreed to bring this to the attention of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Kulsoom Abdullah detailing clothing options that she says would meet her Muslim modesty requirements, allow competition officials to make clear calls and avoid concerns that she was obtaining any competitive advantage. To allow Abdullah to participate by modifying their regulations to allow her to compete with her head, arms, and legs covered. In a 2011 article, Nancy Hogshead-Maker stated, "in a contemplative world, we would think about how to come up with attire that would bring out the best in all competitors, regardless what their religious or personal level of modesty is. This is not a beauty contest, not a religious litmus test." International rules originally required the arms and legs of competitors to be bare so that judges could determine when a lift was successful. After that, she was chosen by Pakistan Weightlifting Federation as the first female weightlifter to represent the country in international competitions. Abdullah later qualified for the American Open weightlifting event in which she was unable to participate due to the organization denying her permission to participate as her costume did not comply with the dress code rules. In 2011, Abdullah became the first Pakistani woman to participate in the World Weightlifting Championship. In 2012, she represented Pakistan at the Asian Weightlifting Championships, held in South Korea. She took a break from weightlifting championships in 2013, however she continued participating in local competitions. Although Abdullah put in a request to ease the dress code for her and other Muslim women, her request was rejected. Abdullah's issue was taken to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). During this time, Abdullah started a website where she wrote about her struggles and her cause. Her case received widespread media coverage. Abdullah sought help from Council of American-Islamic Relations to forward her request to the USOC to allow ease in dress code for Muslim women. Her request was put on the USOC's technical committee's agenda by Dragomir Cioroslan, vice president of IWF and was later approved at the IWF congress in Malaysia. The IWF allowed the use of tight-fitting clothing that could be worn underneath the regular weightlifting costume and said that headscarf has always been allowed in competitions. She received the Georgia Influential Muslim Award, featured in the 2015-2016 Saris To Suits calendar, and was also a speaker on a panel at the Religion Newswriters Association.

Abdullah also advocates for women in STEM, particularly women in machine learning and data science. She is also a writer at Omdena where she writes about the challenges of women in machine learning and advocates for their inclusion in the field. She is also part of AI for good and AI wonder girls; a community founded to support women in AI.