Dalma Rushdi Malhas

Dalma Rushdi Malhas (* 1992 in Ohio , United States ) is a Saudi Arabian show jumper . She was the first woman from Saudi Arabia to take part in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore . In the individual competition she was able to win the bronze medal, the only medal in Saudi Arabia at these games.

Life

Dalma Rushdi Malhas was born in 1992 in the state of Ohio in the United States . She is of Palestinian descent but has Saudi Arabian citizenship. In addition to her native Arabic , she also speaks English , Italian and French . Malhas is the granddaughter of the Palestinian author Rušdī aṣ-Ṣāliḥ Malḥas.

She started riding at the age of four. At the age of twelve she took part in several international competitions in Rome under the supervision of Duccio Bartalucc . Bartalucc is a former coach of the Italian show jumping team at the Olympic Games. She then went to France and trained at the Forsan Equestrian Center in Chantilly .

Her successes in several international competitions caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This had imposed a mandatory quota of at least one female athlete on its member countries in order to be allowed to participate as a nation in the Olympic Games . She was therefore invited by the IOC to represent Saudi Arabia at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games . Although she did not have a particularly close relationship with the country beyond citizenship, she accepted this invitation.

Malhas was also nominated for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London . It would have been the first participation of a woman representing Saudi Arabia in the Olympic Games . However, due to an injury to her horse, she was unable to meet the qualification criteria of the International Equestrian Federation in time and therefore did not take part in the games.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 1st Youth Olympic Games - Arabia's women conquer the Olympics . St. George . August 24, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Razan Baker: Like mother, like daughter: Dalma Malhas breaks a barrier with a winning ride . IndianMuslimObserver.com. September 12, 2010. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 24, 2012. 
3. ↑ Nabila Ramdani: Saudi woman's Olympic hopes a leap too far . In: The Guardian , June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012. 
4. ↑ Start of Saudi Arabian show jumper burst . orf.at . June 25, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.