Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 2, 2021: Saudi Arabia’s 100m talent Yasmeen Al Dabbagh has been officially announced as the first Saudi female athlete to qualify through a Universality Place for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Yasmeen, 23, was nominated for a wildcard invitation by the Saudi Arabian Athletics Federation after breaking the women’s national 100m record in the national trials on June 4 with a time of 13.24 seconds.
“Dream comes true,” said Yasmeen, as the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee announced the news on Friday, July 2.
“I'm running for myself, my country and for all young Saudis. So many people have helped me throughout my career to compete, become a better sprinter and better person. I’ll have each one of them in my mind and heart while wearing the colours of the Kingdom in Tokyo.
“I hope, in hearing my story, other young Saudi girls feel encouraged to get into sport, and the world sees more Saudis competing on the international stage. Regardless of the result, Saudi is a country on the move and I'm going to love every second of the Olympics."
Yasmeen, who has been coached for the last three years by British sprint legend Linford Christie, attended high school at the Jeddah Knowledge School in Saudi Arabia, where she found her passion for sports. She has played basketball, swimming, volleyball and gymnastics as well as track and field.
However, when she went to study abroad, at Columbia University, she decided to join Columbia Athletics to further develop her career as a sprinter.
Starting from 2019, Al Dabbagh’s ambitions to represent her country began by working with the Saudi Arabian Athletics Federation to join the national team and start to compete on a regional level.
She showed clear potential in a sport that has seen a huge demand among women in Saudi Arabia, as hundreds of Saudi female athletes have formed social sporting groups in multiple disciplines of athletics, until proving her complete readiness to earn the Federation’s nomination for the Universality Place to Tokyo 2020 by breaking the national 100m record.
Since the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Saudi sporting sector – and thanks to the Vision 2030 Quality of Life programme – has seen a 59% increase in athletes competing in local competition, 166% increase in females competing in international competition, 117% increase in sports coaches and 150% increase in the number of female athletes.
In addition, in the last elections for national sports federations, at least 30% of sports federations have included female members of their Board of Directors.
This means that Yasmeen will be representing a vibrant movement that is building for a bright national sporting future.
Source: Dr. Razan Baker, Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee
