Arab women's Olympism makes its way to Tokyo
The number of female participants at the Olympics has grown exponentially in recent decades. On average, only 611 women competed in the 1960s; today, that figure is ten times higher. Nearly 6,500 female athletes are representing their respective nations in Tokyo. Although there are still more athletes in the men's categories, the balance has evened out as societies have progressed. However, the limited role of women in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa had prevented women athletes from entering the sporting arena. In fact, it was not until 1984 that Moroccan athlete and IOC member Nawal El Moutawakel made history after winning gold in the 400m hurdles at Los Angeles 1984. It was the first time a woman from an Islamic country had won an Olympic medal.
Algeria's Hassiba Boulmerka took the golden baton from the Moroccan at Barcelona 92 after sweeping the 1500 metres. A year earlier, the runner had to leave her country for France after receiving constant threats from Islamic fundamentalist groups. They reproached her for refusing to wear the veil and competing in shorts. That atrocious experience led her to work, together with El Moutawakel, to promote sport among Arab women, which, among other merits, led to her being awarded the Prince of Asturias prize in 1995. Today, 37 years after the first gold medal won by an Arab woman, the timid opening up of Muslim countries in this area has been a turning point for women's sport. A new batch of athletes are competing at the highest level in the Japanese capital and promise to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming events.
Mardini's legacy was forged in the Aegean Sea. At just 17 years old, the Syrian swimmer decided to embark on a life-or-death journey and boarded a six-person boat with 17 others, including her sister. She was looking for a new destination after witnessing a bomb destroy her home, and another the pool where she had trained since the age of four, guided by the knowledge of her father, a swimming coach. The year was 2011 and war had broken out in her country, an event that brought Mardini's Olympic hopes to a screeching halt. Midway through the crossing, the engine failed and they were adrift. "If I was going to drown, at least I would do it with pride in myself and my sister," she thought, just before jumping into the water and dragging the boat to the coast of Lesbos. She saved their lives.
Before the outbreak of civil strife, Mardini was able to represent Syria at the 2012 Municipal Short Course Swimming Championships. However, exile cut short her chances of representing her country again. She now lives in Berlin, where she competes at the highest level thanks to the Refugee Team. In fact, she was the delegation's flag bearer. She did so for the first time at the Rio 2016 Games, and on 24 July she appeared again in an Olympic event. However, she did not make it past the first round.
The Saudi Arabian sprinter was her country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Since she was a child, Aldabbagh has been closely acquainted with Western societies. She was born in London and studied in the United States, where she combined sport with her studies in economics at New York University. But she was also educated in Saudi Arabia. And at the age of just 23, Aldabbagh managed to qualify for the Tokyo Games. She didn't make it past the first round, but she fulfilled a dream: "Winning a place at the Games is everything to me and to do it by beating my country's distance record is... I couldn't ask for more. Now, after everything we've been through in the last 18 months I savour every moment here".
The athlete is aware of the difficulty women face in accessing sport in Saudi Arabia, but played down the issue: "No country is perfect, but the path of transformation we are on as a nation is something we are very proud of. "It might sound a bit cheesy, but the people who paved the way for the Saudis really struck a chord with me," Al Dabbagh told The National. "They say if you can't see it, you can't be it, and that was true for me. So I owe a lot to the Saudi Olympians who competed in the last games. [Runners] Sarah Attar and Cariman Abu Al Jadail, equestrian Dilma Malhas and swimmer Mariam Binladen. With her participation in Tokyo, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of her compatriots: "I am here to represent all the women of my country and on a larger scale every person who has a dream and has dedicated her life to living with passion. I am here to bring out the best in me and that makes me proud like all the athletes here".
The Persian taekwondist was another big surprise at the Olympics. Alizadeh, a dissident of the Iranian regime and part of the Refugee Olympic Team, fell just short of winning the first medal for her team in the women's 57kg taekwondo event. The fighter was at a high level after three years out of competition, when she was dropped by her delegation, and won her first three bouts to reach the semi-finals, where she was defeated by Russia's Tatiana Minina. In the bronze medal match, Alizadeh lost again, this time to Turkey's Kübra İlgün. However, Alizadeh won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the age of 18. It was the first medal for an Iranian woman in history.
The exile group, created in 2016 to allow victims of political persecution and war to participate in the Olympics, has yet to win a medal. The athlete fled her home country in January 2020 to Germany after speaking out against the oppression of women in Iran. She also revealed that athletes were treated as "tools" for the regime's propaganda. Since then, the Iranian Taekwondo Association has tried to boycott her career. Iran banned her from representing another country at the Olympics, but she was eventually accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a body that allows her to compete at the highest level until she finds a new destination. She says, however, that she will remain a child of Iran wherever she goes.
The 12-year-old Syrian paddler made history in Tokyo by becoming the third youngest athlete in history to compete in an Olympic event. Zaza completes a "podium" made up of Greek gymnast Dimitrious Loundas, who competed in Athens 1896 at the age of 10, and Spanish rower Carlos Font, who competed in Barcelona 92 at the age of 11. Although he did not make it past the first round, his story is one of achievement. A native of Hama, Zaza never stopped trying to compete at the highest level despite the war. "Table tennis has given me everything and taught me to be strong, it has given me patience. When I play I forget about everything and only think about the competition", she declared. That's how she learned to live in conflict.
The young Kuwaiti swimmer also became the first woman to flag her country at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. According to the Kuwait Olympic Committee, Dashti was "overwhelmed with happiness". Her feelings were indescribable, even though she was aware of the responsibility that the female competitors were taking on. At just 17 years old, the swimmer competed in the 50m freestyle, where she narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals after placing fourth in the third heat of the first round. However, for her, the experience was enough.
Hedaya Malak, Egypt
The Egyptian fighter defeated USA's Paige McPherson in the taekwondo event 17-6 to take bronze. Malak won her country's first bronze medal in Tokyo. Earlier, however, she had already made history by also being Egypt's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The 28-year-old taekwondist also became the first Egyptian athlete to win back-to-back Olympic medals, following her bronze at Rio 2016.