With great confidence and a big smile, Saudi runner Yasmine Amr Al-Dabbagh received questions from media in the mixed zone after her participation in the first round of the 100m at the 18th World Championships in Athletics in Eugene, USA.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” she told AFP, noting that it’s a new experience for “Gulf girls in general and Saudi women in particular.”
This is Al-Dabbagh’s second participation in international competition after the Tokyo Olympics last summer, when she also competed in the 100m and qualified ninth in her series with a time of 13.34 seconds before breaking her personal best in the 100m. meters. at the Gulf Games last May when she placed fifth in a record 12.90 seconds.
Despite finishing the third qualifying series in seventh and last place with a time of 13.21 seconds and thus stopping her adventure in her first participation in a global wedding, Yasmin expressed her great happiness to be in the same series with Jamaican Elaine Thompson- Hera, last summer’s Tokyo Olympic Champion, who led the series with a time of 11.15 seconds, reached the semi-finals.
Al-Dabbagh also managed the series alongside Israel’s Diana Weissman, who finished fifth with a time of 11.29 seconds but chose not to comment. “This is just the beginning, it will get better,” said 24-year-old Yasmin. “This is the first participation, not the last.”
Al-Dabbagh dedicated Saudi women’s presence at the Olympics as the sixth female athlete to compete, after runner Sarah Attar and judoka Wijdan Shahkhani who competed in the London Olympics, as well as fencer Lubna Al-Omair, runner Kariman Abu Al- Jadael and judoka Judo Fahmi in Rio de Janeiro.
“The most important thing is friction, especially when you’re competing with world and Olympic champions like Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herra, that’s something you need to develop,” said the Saudi flagship at the Tokyo Olympics. Yasmin contracted the Covid-19 virus a month before Eugene Mondial, but she refused to blame it to justify his outcome. She said: “I got Covid a month ago and it certainly affected my training and development, but that’s no excuse. The tournament is big and requires intense and hard training, a lot of work and concentration.” And she added: “During the year I train six times a week and put in a lot of effort. The goal was to get a good result today, but I didn’t succeed and hopefully the next one will be better.”
“Our goal is to win a medal in the future,” said Yasmin, who trains in the United States, where she lives and studies at the university. Yasmin urged women to play sports and follow the example of male stars in order to achieve good results, raising the status of Saudi women and the flag of their country in international forums. She explained, “God willing, the girls of Saudi Arabia will also (also) participate in all sports and chase their dreams.”
Al-Madina newspaper interviewed the runner during her participation in sporting events in Jeddah city and talked about her happiness and encouragement of all walks of life to play sports.
With great confidence and a big smile, Saudi runner Yasmine Amr Al-Dabbagh received questions from media in the mixed zone after her participation in the first round of the 100m at the 18th World Championships in Athletics in Eugene, USA.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” she told AFP, noting that it’s a new experience for “Gulf girls in general and Saudi women in particular.”
This is Al-Dabbagh’s second participation in international competition after the Tokyo Olympics last summer, when she also competed in the 100m and qualified ninth in her series with a time of 13.34 seconds before breaking her personal best in the 100m. meters. at the Gulf Games last May when she placed fifth in a record 12.90 seconds.
Despite finishing the third qualifying series in seventh and last place with a time of 13.21 seconds and thus stopping her adventure in her first participation in a global wedding, Yasmin expressed her great happiness to be in the same series with Jamaican Elaine Thompson- Hera, last summer’s Tokyo Olympic Champion, who led the series with a time of 11.15 seconds, reached the semi-finals.
Al-Dabbagh also managed the series alongside Israel’s Diana Weissman, who finished fifth with a time of 11.29 seconds but chose not to comment. “This is just the beginning, it will get better,” said 24-year-old Yasmin. “This is the first participation, not the last.”
Al-Dabbagh dedicated Saudi women’s presence at the Olympics as the sixth female athlete to compete, after runner Sarah Attar and judoka Wijdan Shahkhani who competed in the London Olympics, as well as fencer Lubna Al-Omair, runner Kariman Abu Al- Jadael and judoka Judo Fahmi in Rio de Janeiro.
“The most important thing is friction, especially when you’re competing with world and Olympic champions like Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herra, that’s something you need to develop,” said the Saudi flagship at the Tokyo Olympics. Yasmin contracted the Covid-19 virus a month before Eugene Mondial, but she refused to blame it to justify his outcome. She said: “I got Covid a month ago and it certainly affected my training and development, but that’s no excuse. The tournament is big and requires intense and hard training, a lot of work and concentration.” And she added: “During the year I train six times a week and put in a lot of effort. The goal was to get a good result today, but I didn’t succeed and hopefully the next one will be better.”
“Our goal is to win a medal in the future,” said Yasmin, who trains in the United States, where she lives and studies at the university. Yasmin urged women to play sports and follow the example of male stars in order to achieve good results, raising the status of Saudi women and the flag of their country in international forums. She explained, “God willing, the girls of Saudi Arabia will also (also) participate in all sports and chase their dreams.”
Al-Madina newspaper interviewed the runner during her participation in sporting events in Jeddah city and talked about her happiness and encouragement of all walks of life to play sports.