Barbie honours Sinclair as trail-blazing role model

Three-time Olympic medallist recognized with her own one-of-a-kind doll

- MAHDIS HABIBINIA

Canadian soccer legend Christine Sinclair is among a line of athletes named as Barbie role models. Sinclair hopes to encourage girls to do far more than to be just like her: “Aim to be better.”

Christine Sinclair recalls a bleak moment in her life, around the time she was in middle school, when she was filled with self-doubt.

It was also around the same time all her friends had dropped out of the club team they played on.

“I had a family member, I will never forget it, tell me that I will not make it in soccer,” Sinclair told the Star.

“And yeah, it hurts because at the time, there’s no professional leagues, soccer wasn’t in the Olympics, and you’re like, ‘Well, maybe they’re right.’ ”

But Sinclair’s love of the game outweighed the negative noise, wiping out any consideration to follow in her friends’ footsteps.

Now, she’s a national and global icon.