I WAS EAGERLY watching the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. My eyes were centered on the Saudi participants to see if the team will finally include Saudi women for the first time in the games. Saudi Arabia was one of three countries that did not meet the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) requirements of having at least one female member on the team. The other two countries were Qatar and Brunei.

Although the IOC enforced the rule of women’s participation, it is still considered a positive effort for the current Saudi Olympic Committee not to find ways to delay the implementation. The good relations that the Minister of Youth, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, has with IOC officials made it possible to see three courageous Saudi ladies happily waving while walking through the Olympic stadium.

Of course it is not expected for these ladies to come back with a gold medal. It is enough that they are the pioneers who will pave the way for future generations. The obstacles that they will encounter are the building blocks for Saudi female athletes in future tournaments.

One of the ladies who made it to the Saudi Olympic team, Wojdan Shaherkani, had caused a debate within the Olympic committee by insisting on wearing a headscarf in the Judo matches she is participating in. Wojdan was facing exclusion and was about to pack her bags and go back home, when finally the IOC and the International Judo Federation (IJF) reached an agreement on an acceptable form of headscarf that she could wear.

They are also confronted with a unique situation as the London 2012 Olympics coincide with the holy month of Ramadan. High temperatures are expected throughout the championship games. This is a great challenge especially on the fasting athletics teams.

They also have to prepare themselves to handle all the international and local media attention they will be getting. They will need to address the social controversy that arose from their participation in this great international event. Both factions who are pro and against Saudi females participation, had negative reviews on the event. The people who were rooting for them, didn’t find it suitable for the women to be at the end of the Saudi parade line, unlike all the other teams, and the opposing group hated the idea of the Saudi Olympic Committee yielding to IOC pressure.

A delightfully surprising factor in the 2012 Olympics, was the participation of Jasmine Alkhaldi, a young Saudi-Filipino swimmer that is representing the Philippines in their swimming team. She enjoyed the support of both Saudi and Filipino fans.

Whatever the outcome of the London 2012 Olympics, we wish our girls all the best. Indeed, Saudi female athletes have already reached a milestone in the development of athletics in the Kingdom. Their future could be rewarding in the next Olympic games in 2016 to held in Rio de Janeiro.

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