The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games after the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Saudi Arabia also made a historic Olympic record by having two female athletes in the team for the first time, along with seventeen men playing for five different sports. Six athletes had competed in Beijing, including discus thrower Sultan Mubarak Al-Dawoodi, who became the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
In the previous games, Saudi Arabia had always sent exclusively male teams. Until recently,[1] women's participation in sports is greatly restricted within the country, and Saudi Arabia does not permit women to compete in the Olympics.[2] In June 2010, the International Olympic Committee said it would "press" Saudi Arabia (along with Qatar and Brunei) to "send female athletes to the 2012 Olympic Games for the first time".[3]Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission, suggested that the country be barred from participating in the Olympics until it agrees to send women athletes to the Games. In July, Qatar announced that it would include women in its delegation to the 2012 Games, thus "increas[ing] pressure on Saudi Arabia" to do the same.[4] The BBC remarked that "London 2012 may therefore see Saudi women Olympians for the first time. If not, it is conceivable the Kingdom may not be allowed to enter an all-male team".[2]
In November 2011, Al Arabiya reported that "Saudi Arabia plans to send a female equestrian team to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London to avoid being barred from taking part". Dalma Rushdi Malhas, it said, was likely to compete.[5] I.O.C. spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau, however, indicated that the Committee "would not mandate that the Saudis have female representation in London", arguing that "the I.O.C. does not give ultimatums nor deadlines but rather believes that a lot can be achieved through dialogue".[7] An unnamed senior sports official anonymously told Associated Press that sports authorities wished to develop women's participation in sports, but that they were "fighting deeply entrenched traditions". It was also confirmed that the Saudi national Olympic Committee would not prevent Malhas from competing at the London Games. More specifically, she would be permitted to compete if she were invited to the Games by the I.O.C., but Saudi Arabia would not be inviting her to do so itself. Instead, the country was preparing to select four male riders to send to the equestrian competition.[7][8] (The sixth fundamental principle of Olympism as defined by the Olympic Charters states that "Any form of discrimination [...] on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." The fourth principle states that "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind". The seventh principle states that "Belonging to the Olympic Movement requires compliance with the Olympic Charter".[9])
In late June 2012, the country announced that it would permit women's participation, and that its Olympic Committee would "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify". At the time, Malhas was "the only Saudi female competitor at Olympic standard", making it likely that she would be the only woman Saudi participant in the Games. The BBC described the decision as "a huge step, overturning deep-rooted opposition from those opposed to any public role for women". It noted that the change had been "led by King Abdullah, who has long been pushing for women to play a more active role in Saudi society".[10] Malhas, however, stated she would not be able to compete in London, due to an injury her horse had suffered, but hoped to do so in 2016.[11]
The IOC announced in mid July 2012 that Saudi Arabia had entered two female athletes, Judoka Wojdan Shaherkani and 800m-runner Sarah Attar, to participate in the 2012 Olympics.[12][13]
Saudi athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):[14][15]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
