24 Facts About Kulsoom Abdullah

Kulsoom Beenazir Abdullah Kakakhel was born on 12 March 1976 and is a Pakistani-American weightlifter who became the first female weightlifter representing Pakistan when she competed at the 2011 World Championships.

Kulsoom Abdullah was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Okeechobee, Florida.

Kulsoom Abdullah frequently visited Pakistan while growing up and speaks Pashto.

Kulsoom Abdullah has a Master's degree and PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kulsoom Abdullah began weightlifting while she was a graduate student as a training method for taekwondo.

Kulsoom Abdullah received attention from National and International news outlets about her challenge to compete at USA National competitions.

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.

Kulsoom Abdullah was born to Pakistani parents from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region who immigrated to the US Her father was a medical professional who immigrated to US after securing a job in the field of medicine.

Kulsoom Abdullah grew up in Okeechobee; a small town in Florida where she completed her High School at the Okeechobee High School.

Kulsoom Abdullah later received a scholarship from University of Central Florida for a Bachelor's program in Computer Engineering with a minor in Math.

Kulsoom Abdullah began her career as a weightlifter in 2010 when she started taking part in the 105 and 16 pound classes where she was able to finish 23rd of 27 and enroll for local Olympics competitions.

In 2011, Kulsoom Abdullah became the first Pakistani woman to participate in the World Weightlifting Championship.

Kulsoom Abdullah took a break from weightlifting championships in 2013, however she continued participating in local competitions.

Kulsoom Abdullah's religion obliges her to cover her body, including arms, legs and wear a headscarf.

Kulsoom Abdullah's issue was taken to the International Weightlifting Federation.

Kulsoom 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.

Kulsoom Abdullah's 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.

Kulsoom Abdullah is a Computer Engineering professional who worked as a data scientist prior to weightlifting.

Kulsoom Abdullah is currently an instructor at the Georgia State University.

Kulsoom Abdullah has become the face of Muslim women in sports and has featured in coverage regarding Muslim women.

Kulsoom Abdullah was featured in the documentary The Pakistan Four: Four strangers in America redefining the narrative of being a Pakistani Muslim woman, released in 2014.

Since her debut in professional weightlifting, Kulsoom Abdullah has been part of multiple opportuntiies.

Kulsoom Abdullah is a writer at Omdena where she writes about the challenges of women in machine learning and advocates for their inclusion in the field.

Kulsoom Abdullah is part of AI for good and AI wonder girls; a community founded to support women in AI.