Women athletes were first allowed to compete at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, but at the 1992 Summer Olympics thirty-five countries were still fielding all-male delegations. This number dropped rapidly over the following years. In 1996, Lita Fariman was the first woman to compete for Iran at the Olympics, in shooting. In 2000, Bahrain sent two women competitors for the first time:Fatema Hameed Gerashi and Mariam Mohamed Hadi Al Hilli.
In 2004, Robina Muqim Yaar and Friba Razayee became the first women to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympics. In 2008, theUnited Arab Emirates sent female athletes (Maitha Al Maktoum competed in taekwondo, and Latifa Al Maktoum in equestrian) to the Olympic Games for the first time. Both athletes were from Dubai's ruling family.
By 2010 only three countries had never sent female athletes to the Games: Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Brunei had taken part in only three celebrations of the Games, sending a single athlete on each occasion, but Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been competing regularly with all-male teams. In 2010, the International Olympic Committee announced it would "press" these countries to enable and facilitate the participation of women for the 2012 Summer Games; Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission, suggested that countries be barred if they prevented women from competing.
Shortly thereafter, the Qatar Olympic Committee announced that it "hoped to send up to four female athletes in shooting and fencing" to the 2012 Summer Games in London. In Saudi Arabia, by contrast, national law explicitly prohibited women from competing at the Olympics – the only country where this was the case.
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. 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 their 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."
In July 2010, The Independent reported: "Pressure is growing on the International Olympic Committee to kick out Saudi Arabia, who are likely to be the only major nation not to include women in their Olympic team for 2012. [...] Should Saudi Arabia [...] send a male-only team to London, we understand they will face protests from equal rights and women's groups which threaten to disrupt the Games".
In June 2012, The Saudi Arabian Embassy in London announced it would let its female athletes compete in the Olympics in 2012 for the first time. Qatar and Brunei also reversed course in 2012 and said they would send athletes to the games that begin 27 July in London, England. Ultimately, Saudi Arabia included two female athletes in its delegation; Qatar, four; and Brunei, one (Maziah Mahusin, in the 400m hurdles). Qatar made one of its first female Olympians, Bahiya al-Hamad (shooting), its flagbearer at the 2012 Games.
The only sport on the Olympic programme that features men and women competing together is the equestrian disciplines. There is no "Women's Eventing", or 'Men's Dressage'. As of 2008 there were still more medal events for men than women. With the addition of women's boxing to the programme in the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, female athletes will be able to compete in all the same sports as men.
There are currently two Olympic events which male athletes may not compete at: synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
Saudi Arabia agreed on 12 July 2012 to send two women to compete in the 2012 Olympic games in London, England. The two female athletes are Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar. Prior to June 2012, Saudi Arabia had banned female athletes from competing at the Olympics. Every country competing at the London Games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history.
Information sourced from Wikipedia.
