Ruqaya Al-Ghasra ( ar, رقية الغسرة; born September 6, 1982), is a Bahraini athlete. She was one of the first women to represent Bahrain at the Olympic Games, by taking part in the women's 100 metres sprint at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens."Running into History"
ESPN, September 25, 2004 (Bahraini women had, however, taken part in the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

as early as 1984.) She won medals at the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and went on to run at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

and the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

. She announced her international retirement in 2009. It was revealed in July 2010 that Al-Ghasra had failed an out of competition doping test and she was banned from competing for two years (between 17 September 2009 and 16 September 2011).

Career

2004 Olympic debut

ESPN stated that Al-Ghasra "overcame the objections of fundamentalists in her village" to participate. She ran with a head scarf and her body fully covered. She finished fifth in her heat, with a time of 11.49 seconds, and did not advance. A time of 11.43 seconds would have enabled her to qualify for the following round. By 2006, she had improved her time to 11.34 seconds. In 2003, Al-Ghasra had won gold in the 100 metre and 200 metre races at the Arabian Championships in Lebanon."A first for Bahrain"
International Association of Athletics Federation, June 1, 2007 In 2004, prior to the Olympics, she won three silver medals, in the 60 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre races, at the Asian Indoor Championships in Iran. She also represented Bahrain in the 400 metre event at the World Indoor Championships in Budapest.

Regional medals

In 2006, Al-Ghasra won the gold medal in the 200 metre race at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, in Doha. This made her the first Bahraini-born athlete to win gold at a major international athletics competition extending beyond the Arab world. She also won bronze in the 100 metre race. In 2007, she was scheduled to take part in the Pan Arab Games in Egypt, the Asian Championships in Lebanon and the

IAAF World Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in Osaka. She pulled out of the latter championships due to injury."Olympic dreams for Al Ghasara"
Al Jazeera, February 15, 2008 In 2008, Al-Ghasra won gold in the 60 metre race at the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha, setting a new championships record with a time of 7.40 seconds.

2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships

She qualified to compete in the 100 metre and 200 metre events at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, but only competed in the 200 metre race where she reached the semi-finals.AL-Ghasra Ruqaya
Athlete Biography, beijing2008.cn She was her country's

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

at the Games'

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. At the

in Berlin, she reached the quarter-finals of the 100 m, and the semi-finals of the 200 m, recording season's bests of 11.49 and 23.26 seconds respectively. At the end of the year, she announced her retirement from international athletics at the age of 27, to much surprise. She said that she came to the decision following consultation with doctors and specialists, who advised to take a long period off in order to undergo treatment and improve her general health. However, it was revealed in July 2010 that Al-Ghasra had failed an out of competition doping test and she was banned from competing for two years (between 17 September 2009 and 16 September 2011).IAAF Newsletter - Edition 115

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(2010-07-20). Retrieved on 2010-08-08.

References

External links

"Nike swoosh raises debate"
ESPN (about al-Gassra's "corporate-branded hijab") {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghasra, Ruqaya Al- 1982 births Living people Bahraini female sprinters Olympic athletes of Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Bahrain Asian Games bronze medalists for Bahrain Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Doping cases in athletics Bahraini sportspeople in doping cases Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games