In the previous games, Saudi Arabia had always sent exclusively male teams. Until recently, women's participation in sports was greatly restricted within the country, and Saudi Arabia did not permit women to compete in the
Olympics. In June 2010, the
International Olympic Committee said it would "press" Saudi Arabia (as well as
Qatar and
Brunei) to "send female athletes to the 2012 Olympic Games for the first time".
Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission, suggested that the country should be barred from participating in the Olympics until it agreed 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. 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". 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. 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. (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".) at the
2012 London Olympics 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". 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. 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. ==Athletics==