Rio Olympics 2016: Saudi Arabia to send four females athletes

The Saudi Olympic Committee on 17 July gave the green flag to allow four of the country's female athletes to compete at the Rio Olympics 2016.

Sara Al-Attar, Lubna Al-Omair, Cariman Abu Al-Jadail and Wujud Fahmi will represent Saudi Arabia at the summer games, in the country's second female Olympic contingent.

According to reports, the four women will be given wildcard entries so they can compete without meeting formal qualification standards. Saudi Arabia initially named only seven men for the prestigious games.

NDTV quoted Saudi Olympic Committee Chief Executive, Hosam Alqurashi as saying that the names of the male and female contingents were separately announced keeping in mind the country's gender sensitivity initatives.

Previously, Saudi Arabia sent two women under a similar arrangement for the 2012 Olympics in London in what was a symbolic first for the oil-rich Islamic nation.

Attar is a veteran of the London games, where she ran in the 800-metres competition. Joining her will be Abu al-Jadail, who will compete in the 100-metre dash. Omair will participate in fencing, while Fahmi will be in the under-52 kg judo event.

Female athletes in Saudi Arabia must wear head-to-toe garments in public and are asked to observe strict rules on gender segregation. Women's gyms are not currently eligible for licenses. Saudi Arabia recently announced a package of economic reforms which aims to establish sport halls for women in the country by 2020.