Abha: Saudi taekwondo champion Donia Abu Taleb has a unique experience in this sport: she spent several years training in a boys’ club because there were no women to compete with.
Now the 27-year-old has become the first Saudi woman to compete at the Olympics and dreams of bringing home the Gulf kingdom’s first gold medal when she competes in Paris.
Although today her smiling face appears on posters and billboards showing Saudi officials promoting women’s athletics championships, Jeddah residents had humble beginnings.
“It makes me stand up and makes me stronger … I like a challenge,” he said, challenging the boys.
For years, Saudi Arabia’s restrictions on women’s rights have extended to their participation in sports, even as spectators.
Although Saudi women can compete in tennis and soccer in private associations, women are officially supported in other sports.
In 2012 in London, judoka Wojdan Shaherkani became the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in the Olympics thanks to a special invitation from the International Olympic Committee.
His historic debut lasted only 82 seconds when he was knocked out in the first round.
American-born Sarah Attar, another fan, finished last in the 800m heat on the track.
Attar is one of four Saudi Arabian women who will compete as wild cards at the 2016 Olympics, with two others at Tokyo 2020.
But Abu Talib was the first to be chosen from the right.
Under the de facto government of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who became the heir to the throne in 2017, Riyadh has sought to reshape its restrictive image by expanding women’s rights, allowing them to drive and encouraging them to work.
The authorities also lifted the ban on women visiting football stadiums and invested in the development of the women’s national football team.
Taking advantage of the support of the newly created state, Abu Taleb won a gold medal at the 2020 Arab Taekwondo Championship and a bronze medal at the 2022 Asian and World Championships.
Earlier this year, he won a gold medal in the Asian Taekwondo Championship.
Paris told AFP she was hopeful as she stood next to a large banner bearing her photo at Abha’s training centre.
To date, Saudi Arabia has won two bronze and two silver medals in the Olympics, all for men.
Abu Taleb’s Olympic success will add to Saudi Arabia’s campaign to promote itself as a sporting power.
Last year, it emerged as the only candidate to host the 2034 World Cup and spent more than a billion dollars to attract top-level soccer players to Saudi Arabia’s top flight.
Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal told AFP that hosting the Olympics in 2022 was the government’s “main goal”.
Although Abu Taleb attended a relatively low-profile event, it attracted the attention of officials.
“When I first saw Doniya, her level was low, but I saw her desire to grow and achieve,” said Bogdaev.
But he “trained hard, always believed in himself and what he could do,” he said.
Earlier this morning, during a training session organized by the Saudi Taekwondo Federation in Abha, he avoided the attacks of Russian and Uzbek athletes by wearing a blue helmet and using a ball.
“It takes years to prepare an Olympic champion and it is a national project,” federation president Shaddad Al-Omari told AFP.
Abu Taleb quickly evolved from an “unknown athlete into a top player.”
As the Olympics approach, Abu Taleb is fully aware of the pressure on him, but says he can handle it.
“As the first Saudi woman to compete in the Olympics, I was on a kill-or-be-killed level.”
“I have reached the point where I have to.”
From fighting boys to Saudi Olympic history for female taekwondo star
