1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory

JEDDAH: On March 1, 2020, I was touring the Olympic Museum in Lausanne with the Riyadh United women’s basketball team, at the invitation of the former Swiss president, Ueli Maurer. 

The museum’s interactive exhibits take you on a historical tour, from the first Ancient Games in 776 B.C. to the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who helped establish the International Olympic Committee in Paris on June 23, 1894. 

The first modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896, with 14 countries taking part but no female competitors. At the next Olympics, in Paris in 1900, women were allowed to participate for the first time, wearing ankle-length skirts, but were limited to a few sports: sailing, golf, tennis and croquet. 

It was not until 1928, at the Games in Amsterdam, that women were allowed to compete in track and field. Fast-forward 56 years to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where Nawal El-Moutawakel won the 400-meter hurdles to become the first Arab Muslim woman, and Moroccan, to win a gold medal. Newspapers around the world marked this milestone, with Arab News publishing her winning picture on its front page. 

Even though I was at a very young age to remember that event, her legendary achievement stands as a landmark in the accomplishments of Arab and Muslim female athletes. After she won, King Hassan II of Morocco called her to congratulate her, and declared that all girls born that day were to be named in her honor.  

As I reflect on my own experiences as a nonprofessional athlete growing up in Saudi Arabia, I will say that I come from a family who integrated sports into our lives from a young age. My siblings and I played tennis, football and even cricket with my father. I also attended private Saudi schools, which meant I had opportunities to practice sports. 

I found my passion in basketball. My uncle Tariq was my first basketball coach and he bought several rims and placed them on all family garages. 

In 2003, I formed a local basketball team with classmates from high school. This led me to establish Jeddah United Sports Co., which eventually became the first accredited sports academy in Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah United and Riyadh United women’s teams have participated in sports exchanges around the globe. 

As this was happening, other Saudi women began accomplishing their own milestones in sport. In 2008, Arwa Mutabagani was appointed the first female board member of the Saudi Equestrian Federation. Her daughter, Dalma Malhas, won a historic bronze medal at the Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010.  

In May 2012, I reached the base camp of Mount Everest with 10 Saudi women, headed by Princess Reema bint Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US, in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of physical activity in prevention and treatment. 

And in June 2012, Saudi Arabia joined the rest of the world in sending female athletes to the Summer Olympics. Wojdan Shaherkani competed in judo, and Sarah Attar ran the 800-meter sprint at the London Games. Attar might have finished last in her race but she received a standing ovation from 80,000 spectators, who cheered her across the finish line. 

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan for national reform and diversification was announced on April 25, 2016. Its strategic objectives for social and economic empowerment include the promotion of sports and physical activities. Specific aims include increasing the proportion of individuals who exercise regularly from 13 percent to 40 percent; enabling Saudi athletes to perform at higher levels in a wide range of sports; and expanding Saudi participation at international sporting events. 

In 2017, the Ministry of Education approved a physical education program for girls in public schools, and in 2018 women in the Kingdom were allowed to attend sports events in stadiums, something previously strictly limited to men. 

At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, Saudi Arabia sent twice as many female athletes, four, compared with the London Games, and they once again included Attar. Arab and Muslim women achieved several milestones during those Games: Sara Ahmed of Egypt became the first Arab female medalist in weightlifting when she won bronze; and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who won bronze in the team saber event, was the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab. 

On May 3, 2017, the International Basketball Federation announced it was lifting its ban on players wearing the hijab. This was a significant move because it is through the federation’s basketball World Cup that nations can qualify for the Olympic Games. 

In March 2019, another milestone of inclusion took place, at the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, when members of the Saudi team won 18 gold medals in various sports. 

To help support the girls’ basketball team, the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee collaborated with the renowned Help Center, a non-profit organization that empowers, supports and trains girls and boys with intellectual disabilities. Jeddah United were asked to recommend players who could play alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities to form the Saudi women’s unified basketball team. It was implemented according to the “4P” concept: Public-Private-People-Partnership. 

The Saudi women’s unified basketball team made history at the 2019 Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, as the only team that was undefeated on their path to the gold medal. 

Later that year, Saudi women made a historic appearance at the sixth Gulf Cooperation Council Games in Kuwait, participating in eight events and winning two gold medals, in fencing. 

Since then things have only gotten better for Saudi female athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Saudi sprinter Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh competed in the women’s 100m in the track and field events, while Tahani Al-Qahtani represented the Kingdom in the +78kg category of the Judo competition. 

In a historic moment, Al-Dabbagh joined Saudi rower Husein Alireza in carrying the Kingdom’s flag at the opening ceremony. The 2020 Games were the first at which a male and female athlete could jointly have the honor of carrying their nation’s flag, as a result of a rule change to promote gender equality. 

At the Paris Olympics last year, 17-year-old Mashael Alayed became the first Saudi woman to compete in the swimming at the Games. She was one of three female Saudi participants, alongside Dunya Abutaleb, a bronze medalist at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2022, and Hibah Mohammed, the Kingdom’s sole female representative in the athletics competitions, who was granted a wildcard entry to the 100m sprint but was unable to compete after picking up an injury during training. 

The 2024 Olympics were also the first at which there was full gender parity, with equal numbers of men and women competing. 

And let us not forget the achievements of Reema Juffali, Saudi Arabia’s first female racing driver, who received a wild card entry at the F1 Academy season opener in Jeddah last year. 

As Saudi women continue to make tremendous progress in the sports arena, we can expect to see them excel in all fields, in the process inspiring future generations of female athletes to build on such milestones. 

In the Ancient Olympics in Greece, athletes competed in just one event: a foot race for men. Who could have imagined the course of development that would lead to an Arab Muslim female runner winning gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? 

• Lina K. Almaeena is co-founder and chairperson of Jeddah United Sports Co. She is a former member of the Shoura Council and was ranked on media company Forbes’ list of the 200 Most Powerful Arab Women.