Saudi Women to debut at London Olympics

Sarah Attar

The world will see two Saudi Arabian female athletes at the London 2012 Olympics.

This morning the  International Olympic Committee announced Judoka Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani, who will compete in the 78 kilogram category, and runner Sarah Attar will take part in the 800 metres.

Saudi Arabia is accustomed to sending male-only teams but for the first time ever two Saudi women will compete at the Olympics. IOC President Jacques Rogge says they have been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and and they finally agreed. The athletes, invited by the IOC, were entered by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by the official deadline of 9 July.

Fit Again! Usain Bolt declared "Good to Go" for London

Any fears a less than fit Usain Bolt would cause an anti-climax to London's highest billed event, have been laid to rest.

Bolt's agent Ricky Simms has declared the Olympic sprinter is "back to normal, back in full training and good to go."

Concerns for the Jamaican sprint genius were heightened last month after his defeats at the national trials and subsequent withdrawal from Monaco's Diamond League meet.  His recent visit to Germany for treatment by renowned sports doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt further fueled speculations  that all is not well.

Blade Runner set for London Olympics

Talk about a dream come true... double amputee Oscar Pistorius will run in both the 400m and the 4x100m relays at the London Olympics.

In a surprising last-minute decision Wednesday, South Africa's Olympic committee and national track federation cleared the double amputee to run in his individual event.

The Olympic committee had earlier announced that Pistorius had been only picked for the relay.
Reports are that the track body asked for permission to also allow Pistorius to run the 400, even though he had not met their qualifying criteria.

As you can imagine, 25-year-old who runs on carbon fiber blades is over the moon. In his words "Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life." Pictorius also says  he's run  two Olympic 'A' standard times over the past twelve months and feels his speed will peak in time for the Olympics.

He's now created history by being the only athlete set to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. This is bound to be one of the talking points come August and I for one can't wait to see it. Hopefully he can improve on his semi-final finish at last year's world championships. Either way exciting times are ahead!

US and Jamaica Team Trials: What Did We Learn?

Usain Bolt CAN be beaten!

Heavy is the head that wears the crown and Yohan “di Beast” Blake produced not one, but two brilliant races to dethrone Mr Bolt. Some track pundits say they saw it coming but I’ll just be honest and say I was shocked, especially in the 100m. For me it wasn't so much the defeat, as prior to the race I thought both athletes had a 50-50 shot. It was the MARGIN of defeat that sent shock waves through the stadium and my TV screen. I think his disastrous 100m semi-final was an eye-opener. It indicated that his start is worst than we thought and displayed his vulnerability. His effort in the 200m was definitely better but still not enough. Blake got the edge in the last 50 metres and pulled away, handing the "sprint king" his first defeat in his pet-event in over 4 years. Not to stoke the fires of controversy here, but arguably Bolt isn’t really dethroned until London, who knows, it may well be enough time to pull himself together. At least his coach seems to think so.