Meet the Saudi athletes preparing for the Paris Olympics

Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - JEDDAH: With just weeks left until the Olympic Games kick off in Paris, Saudi Arabia is gearing up for what is being hailed as one of its most important appearances in the history of the global sporting event.

Saudi Arabia will make its thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics and will be among 206 countries competing, set to take place between July 26 and August 11 in the French capital.

Seven Saudi Arabian athletes have qualified for the Games, who will be participating in show jumping (4), Taekwondo (1), shot put (1) and pole vault (1).

The Kingdom's athletes will look to better their tally of one silver medal from the last Games in Tokyo won by Tariq Hamdi in the 75kg Karate competition.

Habib Al-Amin, executive director of the Saudi Arabian Athletics Federation and Shaddad Al-Omari, Saudi Taekwondo Federation President, told Arab News they were excited to see the athletes show off their talents.

Both have extended their best wishes to the Saudi competitors, emphasizing the significance of the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee support.

Speaking from Antalya in Turkey, where Taekwondo competitor Donia Abu Taleb is holding her training camp, Al-Omari added: “Competing against the best 15 Taekwondo players in the world, will be a very tough competition but Donia is capable to win. She is not there to participate but to compete.”

Al-Amin said: “We are extremely proud of our track and field athletes for the hard work they put in to achieve this level of excellence.”

He added: “Tolo and Al-Hizam exerted their best efforts to reach it to the Paris games. Definitely, we have high hopes in both athletes and looking forward to their performance.”

Below is a look at all the Saudi athletes who have qualified for Paris:

Show Jumping

The Saudi show jumping team managed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after achieving first place in the Group G qualifiers at the Doha International Show Jumping Championship in 2023.

The Saudi equestrians won a qualification card after an outstanding performance among the participating teams to return to the Olympics after an absence of 12 years, as the last Saudi participation was at the London Olympics in 2012.

Rider Ramzi Al-Dahami, Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi, and Khaled Al-Mabti will represent the Saudi show jumping team.

Taekwondo

Abu Taleb is a Taekwondo athlete competing in the 49kg weight category, and will be only Saudi female competing at this Olympics. Her qualification came through the Asian Olympic qualifying tournaments for the Paris 2024 Games.

The 27-year-old is poised to give Saudi Arabia its best chance of winning a medal in Paris.

The current world No. 4, she has won tournaments around the world as well as a bantamweight bronze at the 2022 Asian championships and a flyweight bronze at the world championships in Mexico the same year.

Shot Put

Saudi shot-putter Mohammed Tolu has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics in shot put, after breaking the Asian record and the Olympic qualifying mark with a throw of 21.80 meters during his participation in the recent Madrid meeting.

Tolu won the silver medal at the Asian Games last summer in Hangzhou, China, where he was also close to winning gold.

Tolu's previous best was a throw of 20.80 meters and he has since improved his mark to break the Asian record.

Pole Vault

Saudi pole vaulter Hussain Al-Hizam was the last Saudi athlete to qualify for the Games. On June 24, Al-Hizam earned a ticket to Paris after winning the bronze medal at the Memorial Czeslawa Cybulskiego in Poznan, Poland with a height of 5.62 meters.

Previously, he also clinched the bronze medal in the pole vault final at the 19th Asian Games held in 2023 and won the gold medal at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. His personal bests in the event are 5.70 metres outdoors and 5.70 metres indoors.

Saudi Arabia's history in the Olympics

Saudi Arabia's Olympic story officially began in 1965 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognised the nation, and approved its participation in the Games.

Saudi Arabia has competed in 12 Summer Games, first appearing at Munich in 1972 and competing in every Games since, with the exception of the 1980 Moscow Games.

Saudi Arabia won its first two Olympic medals at Sydney in 2000. Hadi Soua’an Al-Somaily won a silver in the men’s 400 meter hurdles and Khaled Al-Eid won an equestrian bronze in individual show jumping.

In 2012, the Kingdom's first female athletes participated in the London Games. Sarah Attar represented the nation in the women's 800 meters, whilst Wojdan Shaherkani competed in women's judo.