Egypt's beach volleyball player Doaa El-Ghobashy, who rose to international fame for being the first ever player to wear a hijab during the Olympics, has replied to people who criticised her appearance at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.

"To those that don't agree with what I did [at Rio]: I respect your opinion but tell me first before you judge me, who are you? And what have you achieved in your life for you to just mock people? I thank you, because you made me famous, but I thank God that many people defended me," El-Ghobashy stated on Facebook late on Thursday following the duo's loss against Canada 2-0 on last week.

Doaa, 19, brought attention to herself at the Rio games for not only being part of the first ever Egyptian women's team to make it to the tournament, but for also being the first ever women in hijab on the beach volleyball Olympic court.

She thanked family and friends their supported and her teammate Nada Moawad and launched an Arabic hashtag that translates into: "We made it to the Olympics, what have you done?"

"I want to thank all the people who supported me and to know how hard we worked to chase our big dream," she added.

Although Doaa and Nada lost their three qualifying round matches against Germany, Italy and Canada, they made a memorable performance and gained the support of Brazilian fans.

Under the guidance of coach Ahmed Abdel-Aal, the team was the first to ever qualify for the Olympics from their continent, winning the African Volleyball Confederation's Continental Cup in Abuja in April.

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