Now 30 years of age, Sbaity’s lifelong journey as an athlete has been one not only marked by achievements but also one that was born out of her identity as a child of two nations. Being the country’s only black Lebanese track and field athlete to date, her mother from Liberia, her father from Lebanon, Sbaity’s discovery of track and field early in life became a way to forge her identity.
In a video by Heyoka Media, the inspiring athlete explained her identity as a Lebanese of mixed heritage and her identity as an athlete, saying, “My identity as a runner and my identity as a Lebanese are interlocked. Being a six-year-old getting lost in the war and then having to leave the country in a helicopter to come to a country that also had a war. One of the first thing I was told was ‘Oh, the Sri Lankan came to class.’ As a 10-year-old, having to deal with that, it wasn’t easy.”