SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Be in the know and join our inner circle of style mavens, innovators, art lovers and tech-aficionados.

Google reCaptcha: Invalid site key.

Khadijah Mellah makes history as the first female jockey to race – and win – in a hijab

You go girl!
This 18-year-old Muslim teenager has made history and we couldn't be any more proud...

Great news for the Middle East today as we’ve come to know that a teenage jockey has made history as the first person to race and win, all whilst wearing a hijab.

Meet Khadijah Mellah, the 18-year-old rookie jockey that won the Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood, over the weekend.

From Peckham, south London, it marked quite a momentous occasion for Mellah as she only sat on a racehorse for the first time in April.

Sporting a Nike hijab and Mary Katrantzou butterfly top, Mellah stormed across the five-and-a-half-furlong charity race and to the finish line in front of 25,000 spectators and competitors including Olympic cycling champion-turned-jockey Victoria Pendleton.

“Ambitious women can make it and that is what I want to represent,” she told The Times. “I’ve had so much support and I can’t wait to see other stories of other women doing the same.”

Now, take a look at how Nike is channelling diversity.