Dalma Malhas is an equestrian. She was supposed to be the first Saudi female athlete to compete at the Summer Olympics. When she rode at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, she was amongst a high-profile group of speakers who addressed the recent

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Women and Sport conference in

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. The 20-year-old, who won individual bronze in Singapore, spoke of her hope of gender equality in all sports.

Biography

Dalma Rushdi Malhas was born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in 1992. She speaks English, French, Italian, as well as her native tongue, Arabic. At the age of four, Dalma began riding horses. At the age of 12, she traveled to Rome where she started to compete in more advanced competitions under the supervision of Duccio Bartalucci, a former coach for the national Olympic show jumping team of Italy. She then went to France and trained there at the Forsan Equestrian Centre in

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

. After participating in several competitions abroad, the

(IOC) became aware of Malhas. Due to the fact that each country has to field a minimum of one woman in the mandatory quota set by the IOC in order for a nation to take part in the Games, the IOC invited Malhas to represent Saudi Arabia, although her links with that country are not strong. When interviewed during the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, she admitted: "I didn’t care much about me being there as a representative of Saudi Arabia, because anyone could probably do that. But getting a medal was the key, and that’s not easy for anyone, and I wanted that – and only that gives recognition to my country". Malhas was set to compete at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. It would have been the first time a woman had represented Saudi Arabia at an Olympic Games and she would have been the only female Saudi athlete to have competed in any Olympic sport. However, Malhas was disqualified from the Games in late June for failing to meet minimum eligibility standards, according to the International Equestrian Federation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malhas, Dalma Rushdi H Equestrians at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Saudi Arabian female equestrians Living people 1992 births 21st-century Saudi Arabian women Sportspeople from Ohio