Basically, this 16 year old girl has made it to the Olympics and is set to compete on August 3rd in the women’s Judo competition. She has been told that she cannot compete with her hijab on for safety reasons. Her father says she will withdraw if she can’t compete with it on. Saudi Arabia has said that all their athletes must follow Islamic dress code regardless.
Athlete Safety v. Religion Freedom …
I think she should take it off and compete. S.A. finally has two female athletes representing them at the Olympics. They should know they can’t compete in a sport like this wearing a scarf. It can come off, be ripped off, be used to strangle her, etc. etc. It’s actually dangerous for her.
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
Was just wondering what would happen if Saudi Arabia hosted the Olympics. Was just wondering how competitions like volleyball would be held. It would fun watching these competitions.
I am not saying that it is not fun to watch them now though
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
This poor girl is caught in the middle. So much backlash from both sides, even by her own countrymen for her participating at the Games. Sad, sad stuff.
“All three parties agreed this afternoon on the headscarf and she will compete… They agreed on a design and she will compete wearing this design,” said Razan Baker, Saudi National Olympic Committee spokeswoman.
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
Can someone actually list the safety concerns? I heard this when it came to Volleyball, football and bunch of other sports but can anybody actually highlight the safety concerns explicitly?
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
“This isn’t about discrimination, it’s about safety. Judo is a body contact sport. You grab the uniform and throw. The person wearing the hijab could suffer a serious injury, and the opponent could get her fingers caught in the material and break her fingers. Choking techniques are legal in judo. Having that material makes it unfair to the opponent, because it’s hard to slip your fingers into place, and there’s again the danger of breaking fingers. And, by the way, this girl shouldn’t even be in the Olympics. She didn’t qualify by traditional methods. She has never been in international competition before, and is only a blue belt. This whole thing is wrong!”
He said the hijab was banned for safety reasons, as judo fighters can try to strangle each other using their judogi or kit. While using a hijab to do this would be illegal it could happen by mistake during a move.
“It can be dangerous,” Messner said. “It could happen during a move, something wrong could happen.”
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
And, by the way, this girl shouldn’t even be in the Olympics. She didn’t qualify by traditional methods. She has never been in international competition before, and is only a blue belt.
Oh wow. So who approved of her and why? I'm guessing the committee overlooks all of this, right?
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
I want to know that too BBC, let’s see if Google can reveal anything.
BTW, just watch this video of Judo world champions. Holy moly, what an aggressive sport. I don’t know what anybody is thinking if they do this with a traditional hijab on.
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
And, by the way, this girl shouldn’t even be in the Olympics. She didn’t qualify by traditional methods. She has never been in international competition before, and is only a blue belt.
Oh wow. So who approved of her and why? I'm guessing the committee overlooks all of this, right?
Yea, I wonder how and why it happened? She is now in the Olympics why bring that point up now?
Re: Olympics Judo: Saudi Arabian Athelete in Hijab Dispute
I found the explanation. Two female atheletes did not qualify due to their circumstances. They were invited to participate with a special invitation from the IOC.
In Saudi Arabia … women cannot register for sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics.
Attar and Shahrkhani were entered for the London Games by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by Monday’s deadline.
Neither qualified to compete in the Olympics, but received special invitations from the IOC “based on the quality of the athletes,” Rogge said. “We’ve looked at the ones who are the closest to qualifying standards and these were these two athletes,” he said. “That’s always the bottom line in all these invitations.”
