Saudi Arabia will send two female athletes to the 2012 London Olympics, ending the ultraconservative Muslim country’s record of sending only all-male teams to the games, two officials with knowledge of the decision said Thursday.
Officials said the Saudi women will compete in judo and track and field as well as including female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
Qatar and Brunei, two other countries that have never sent any female athletes to the Olympics, are also including women on their teams for the London Games. With the Saudis now following suit, it means all national teams competing in the games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history. About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees.
Saudi Arabia has been under pressure from the International Olympic Committee and human-rights groups to include women athletes. The IOC has been in negotiations with the Saudis for months on securing the participation of women.
Rights groups hailed the decision as a step forward for Saudi women in their quest for basic rights in a country that severely restricts them in public life.
‘It’s an important precedent that will create space for women to get rights and it will be hard for Saudi hardliners to roll back,’ said Minky Worden of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
