ALKHOBAR: Sarah Al-Ablan had never trained in athletics when she lined up for her first 100-meter race in Riyadh in 2023.
The King Faisal University student had been passionate about sport since 2020, but it was one of her university instructors who noticed her athletic ability at the gym and encouraged her to enter a university competition.
She finished the 100 meters in 14.97 seconds — a result that convinced her there might be more to pursue.
“That number was incredible for someone who had never trained in athletics and didn’t know any running techniques,” the 21-year-old told Arab News.
“At first, it was just a sport I practiced and I didn’t work on it seriously, but over time I started achieving good results and those around me noticed my potential in sprint races.”
That encouragement led Al-Ablan to take her first serious step into athletics by joining Al-Adalah Club. Her coach immediately saw potential in the inexperienced runner.
“The first thing my coach said was: ‘Sarah, you are a talent, not an athlete. I’m starting with you from zero.’”
Al-Ablan, now a track and field athlete with Al-Adalah Club and the Saudi national team, initially focused on sprinting. Her eventual move into the 400 meters, however, happened entirely by accident.
A registration error entered her into the event at a competition. She had never run a full lap of the track before and initially complained about having to race, particularly as she was unwell at the time.
Then she finished third.
“The first result was shocking — I came third,” she said. “And from there began my love story with the 400 meters, the killer of women and men.”
What started accidentally has since become one of Al-Ablan’s strongest events.
After finishing sixth at a university championship in 2023, she took bronze in the 400 meters at the 2025 university championships with a time of 1 minute 14 seconds. In 2026, she placed third among clubs at a Kingdom qualifying meet, lowering her time to 67.30 seconds.
Her biggest university success came at the 2026 Gulf Universities Championship in Doha, where she won the 400 meters in 63.13 seconds and the 200 meters in 27.91 seconds.
Al-Ablan said she had arrived at the Gulf competition focused on improving her own time rather than winning.
“I went in with the goal of breaking my old record, and I never expected that I would be the strongest competitor among more than 15 participating universities and more than 500 athletes,” she said.
“The feeling of winning gold was indescribable.”
Her progress also earned her a place with the Saudi national team. In 2026, Al-Ablan competed internationally with the Kingdom’s relay team in Kazakhstan and Malaysia, alongside Areen Wahba Omar, Huda Omar and Mayasa Al-Dhikrallah.
The team recorded a qualifying time of 49.67 seconds for the Asian championships.
For Al-Ablan, representing the Kingdom remains more important than any individual medal.
“For me, simply wearing the Saudi national team jersey and representing my country is one of the greatest achievements I am proud of,” she said.
Her personal bests have continued to fall, reaching 26.99 seconds in the 200 meters and 62.67 seconds in the 400 meters. She now wants to push both lower.
Al-Ablan has also tested herself away from the track. Despite being a sprinter, she entered a 5-km race at the 2026 Al-Ahsa Runs Marathon and finished fourth in 24 minutes, 40 seconds.
“It was a challenge between me, myself and my mind, since I’m a sprinter,” she said. “It was my first time challenging myself over 5k, and I finished fourth. It was incredible for someone who doesn’t run distances. Willpower makes the impossible possible.”
Her sporting progress has come alongside university studies, creating a schedule built around near-daily track sessions, physical preparation and recovery.
“My day depends on discipline,” she said. “I try to organize my time so I can balance sport and study without one affecting the other, and that requires a lot of commitment, especially because sometimes I have to give things up.”
Training camps present another challenge, taking her away from her family while adding the psychological pressure of competitive sport.
Her parents, particularly her mother, have been central to keeping her on track. Al-Ablan also credits Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Thani, Mona Al-Thani and Lulwa Al-Thani for an opportunity to spend more than 10 months in Qatar on a scholarship training with professional coaches.
She also highlighted the support of Al-Adalah coach Azza Mohammed and the Saudi national team staff.
“Every time I fell, she held my hand and reminded me of my goals,” Al-Ablan said of Mohammed.
Her rise has coincided with the expansion of opportunities for Saudi female athletes, from domestic competitions and training camps to international representation.
“Women’s sports in Saudi Arabia have witnessed major development in recent years,” she said. “The opportunities have become greater in terms of championships, training camps, technical support and representing the Kingdom abroad.”
Al-Ablan’s ambitions now extend beyond improving her personal records. She wants to compete at the Asian and international levels and ultimately become an Olympian representing Saudi Arabia.
“I haven’t arrived yet, I’m still moving forward, and I’ll keep going until I reach my goal. I will not give up.”
For the young sprinter, the medals and race times reveal only a small part of what goes into reaching the starting line.
“What you see at championships is just a drop in the ocean,” she said. “We get tired, get sick, fall down, cry, and then return to train for hours and long months just to earn a medal at a championship that may be more than three months away.”
And she has one message in particular for women considering following the same path.
“The hijab will never be an obstacle to you training.”
