Saudi Arabia at the Olympics

Saudi Arabia has competed in twelve Summer Olympic Games. They first appeared in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Saudi Arabia made their debut in the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Saudi Arabia at the
Olympics
IOC codeKSA
NOCSaudi Arabian Olympic Committee
Websiteolympic.sa (in Arabic and English)
Medals
Ranked 120th
Gold
0
Silver
2
Bronze
2
Total
4
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

Women's participation in the Olympics
Sarah Attar is a track and field athlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the first two female Olympians representing Saudi Arabia. She also competed in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics.

Prior to June 2012, Saudi Arabia banned female athletes from competing at the Olympics.[1][2] However, following the International Olympic Committee pressuring the Saudi Olympic Committee to send female athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics, in June 2012 the Saudi Embassy in London announced this had been agreed.[3][4]

There were calls for Saudi Arabia to be barred from the Olympics until it permitted women to compete, notably from Anita DeFrantz, chair of the International Olympic Committee's Women and Sports Commission, in 2010.[5] In 2008, Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, likewise called for Saudi Arabia to be barred from the Games, describing its ban on women athletes as a violation of the International Olympic Committee charter. Stating that gender discrimination should be no more acceptable than racial discrimination, he noted: "For the last 15 years, many international nongovernmental organizations worldwide have been trying to lobby the IOC for better enforcement of its own laws banning gender discrimination. [...] While [its] efforts did result in increasing numbers of women Olympians, the IOC has been reluctant to take a strong position and threaten the discriminating countries with suspension or expulsion."[6]

Dalma Rushdi Malhas competed at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics and won a bronze medal in equestrian (see Saudi Arabia at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics). Saudi Arabia agreed on July 12, 2012, to send two women to compete in that year's Games in London, England: the two female athletes were Wojdan Shaherkani in judo, and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar.[7]

Medals
See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

Medals by Summer Games
Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1972 Munich100000–
1976 Montreal190000–
1980 Moscowdid not participate
1984 Los Angeles370000–
1988 Seoul140000-
1992 Barcelona90000-
1996 Atlanta290000-
2000 Sydney18011261
2004 Athens170000–
2008 Beijing150000–
2012 London19001179
2016 Rio de Janeiro110000-
2020 Tokyo29010177
2024 Parisfuture event
2028 Los Angeles
2032 Brisbane
Total0224118

Medals by Winter Games
Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
2022 Beijing10000-
2026 Milan–Cortinafuture event
Total0000-

Medals by sport
SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Athletics0101
Karate0101
Equestrian0022
Totals (3 entries)0224

List of medalists
Medal Name Games Sport Event
 SilverHadi Al-Somaily2000 Sydney AthleticsMen's 400 metre hurdles
 BronzeKhaled Al Eid2000 Sydney EquestrianIndividual show jumping
 BronzeRamzy Al Duhami
Abdullah Al Saud
Kamal Bahamdan
Abdullah Sharbatly		2012 London EquestrianTeam jumping
 SilverTareg Hamedi2020 Tokyo KarateMen's +75 kg

See also

References
  1. Gardner, Frank (June 24, 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: Saudis allow women to compete". BBC News. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  2. "Rice hopes Saudi women will soon compete in Olympics" Archived January 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, AFP, August 17, 2008
  3. "Saudi women vie for Olympic rights", BBC, June 13, 2008
  4. Gardner, Frank (June 24, 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: Saudis allow women to compete". BBC News. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  5. "Qatar decision to send female athletes to London 2012 increases pressure on Saudi Arabia", Inside the Games, July 1, 2010
  6. "Bar countries that ban women athletes", Ali Al-Ahmed, New York Times, May 19, 2008
  7. "Saudis to send two women to London Olympics". My FOX NY.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
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