Sportswear giant Nike launches sports hijab for Muslim athletes

By Dev Trehan

Image: Nike introduces the Nike Pro Hijab (credit: Nike)

Sportswear giant Nike has launched its first sports hijab aimed at Muslim athletes.

The Nike Pro Hijab - designed in response to calls from Muslim females for more comfortable performance headwear - could be available as early as next year.

Saudi Arabian runner Sarah Attar wore a hijab in the women's 800m at the London 2012 Olympics and Nike pointed to the US-born athlete's appearance at the Games as a pivotal moment in their development of the sports hijab.

"The Nike Pro Hijab has been a year in the making, but its impetus can be traced much further back to Nike's founding mission, to serve athletes, with the signature addendum: If you have a body, you're an athlete," Nike said in a statement.

Image: Zahra Lari (pictured) and weightlifter Amna Al Haddad have tested Nike's sports hijab

"This movement first permeated international consciousness in 2012, when a hijabi runner took the global stage in London."

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Figure skater Zahra Lari - the first international skater from the United Arab Emirates - is one of a number of athletes who have tested the product made from a single layer of thin polyester.

Image: Muay Thai world champion Ruqsana Begum released sports hijab range last year (pic: Bahareh Hosseini)

"I was thrilled and a bit emotional to see Nike prototyping a hijab," she said

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"I've tried so many different hijabs for performance and so few of them actually work for me. But once I put it on and took it for a spin on the ice, I was blown away by the fit and the light weight."

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