Under mounting international pressure, Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that Saudi women will now be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games for the first time in the country’s history.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) faced calls to ban the country from the 2012 Olympics after the Saudi Olympic committee president said last February he was “not endorsing” female participation in the Games.
More from the Guardian:
The Saudi regime, which closed private gyms for women in 2009 and 2010 and severely limits women’s ability to undertake physical activity, has been under mounting international pressure to adopt a more liberal approach… An equestrian jumping contestant, Dalma Malhas, 18, is likely to be Saudi Arabia’s only female athlete to qualify for this summer’s Games in London which get underway on 27 July.
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