Sarah Attar makes Olympic track history for Saudi women
Saudi Arabia's Sarah Attar competes in a women's 800-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London. (Aug. 8, 2012) Credit: AP
LONDON -- Sarah Attar became the first Saudi woman to compete in Olympic track and field, wearing a headscarf and finishing last in her 800-meter heat Wednesday.
Attar smiled broadly and waved at the crowd as her name was announced. Three minutes later, wearing a white headscarf, green longsleeve shirt and black leggings despite the 19-degree Celsius (66-degree Fahrenheit) temperature, she drew a huge roar of approval from the crowd of about 80,000 as she strode down the home stretch.
Her time of 2 minutes, 44.95 seconds was well behind Janeth Jepkosgei's heat-winning 2:01.04, but that didn't matter. She left her mark on the London Games.
A student at Pepperdine with dual Saudi and U.S. citizenship, she is one of the first two Saudi women ever selected for the Olympics.
