Agency :
Full of confidence and with a broad smile on her face, Saudi Olympic sprinter Yasmeen Al Dabbagh answered all of the journalists’ questions after having competed in the 18th World Athletics Championship held in Eugene, Oregon.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” she told AFP, noting that it’s a novel experience for “Women from the Gulf in general and Saudi women in particular.”
This is the second time Al Dabbagh has taken part in an international competition. Her debut on the world stage came at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, where she competed in the 100m race and finished ninth in her series after crossing the finish line in 13.34 seconds. She later broke her personal record during the GCC Games in May, when she finished the race in 12.90 seconds, coming fifth.
Although Al Dabbagh finished the third qualifying series in seventh and last place with a time of 13.21 seconds, ending her first adventure at the world stage early, Al Dabbagh said she was delighted to have been in the same series with Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who topped the series with a time of 11.15 seconds and reached the semi-finals. Israeli athlete Diana Weissman was in the same series, finishing fifth with a time of 11.29 seconds, but Al Dabbagh chose not to comment on the matter.
The 24-year-old preferred to talk about her performance and future, saying: “This is only the beginning, and things will get better. This is the first time that I take part, and it certainly won’t be the last.”
Al Dabbagh became only the sixth Saudi woman to take part in the Olympic Games, following in the footsteps of track and field athlete Sarah Attar and the judoka Wejdan Shahkhani, who had participated in the London Olympics, as well as the fencer Lubna Al-Omair, the sprinter Kariman Abu Al-Jadayel, and judoka Jude Fahmy, who had competed at Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
