Standing ovation for hijab-wearing Saudi woman athlete as she finishes Olympic 800m heat almost a whole lap behind fellow competitors

American-based Sarah Attar is the first Saudi track athlete to compete in the Olympics

Runs 800m heat in time of 2:44.95, nearly 45 seconds behind the winner

Saudi Olympic Committee only allowed women to take part in June

They say in the Olympics it's not the winning that counts, but the taking part.

And that was certainly the case this morning as Sarah Attar, the first female track athlete to compete for Saudi Arabia in the Olympics, was cheered every step of the way in her 800m heat.

In the end, she completed the two laps of the track nearly 45 seconds behind the winner, but her participation alone represented an historic moment.



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Saudi Arabia's Sarah Attar (centre) waves to the crowd in the Olympic Stadium as she lines up in heat six of the women's 800m this morning

Attar completed the two laps of the 800m in a time of two minutes 44.95 seconds, nearly 45 seconds behind the leader

Attar enters and empty home straight on the second lap of her heat. She wore a white hijab, green long-sleeved top and jogging bottoms to comply with her country's rules on female modesty

Dressed in a long-sleeved green training top, long jogging bottoms and a white hijab, she certainly stood out on the start line in sweltering heat in the Olympic Stadium.

And it was quickly obvious that Attar wasn't going to be able to keep pace with the rest of the field as she fell a long way behind.

But whatever the sport, Olympic crowds love a plucky trier and Attar was given a standing ovation as she crossed the finish line, almost a full lap behind the others.



Her time of two minutes 44.95 seconds was a long way behind that recorded by the winner, Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei, who ran two minutes 01.04 seconds.



Attar started in lane eight in heat six of the 800m in the Olympic Stadium

Attar, 19, studies art at the Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She has dual Saudi and American nationality but chose to compete for the homeland of her father

It doesn't matter though, because Attar is making history as one half of the first ever women's team to represent Saudi Arabia.



Speaking after the race, she said: 'It is such an honour to be representing Saudi Arabia. Hopefully this can make such a huge difference.



'It was such a unique opportunity [to represent Saudi Arabia], they invited me and welcomed me and to make that first step for women is just the most amazing feeling ever.'

Her run today was four seconds slower than her personal best time. But the 800m isn't Attar's strongest race as she's more comfortable at 1500m distance

The other competitors had long since crossed the line - second from last Elisabeth Mandaba of the Central African Republic was 32 second quicker

Attar is the first female Saudi track athlete to participate in the Olympics after the nation's Olympic Committee overturned a ban on women. She was given a standing ovation as she crossed the finish line



She was all smiles after the race, despite being the slowest competitor

Members of the press scrambled to grab a few words from Attar after the race

Her teammate, the judoka Wojdan Shaherkani, wrote her name into Olympic history on Friday when she was defeated by Puerto Rican Melissa Mojica in a first round bout.

The fight only lasted a minute but Shaherkani will forever have the distinction of being the first Saudi female Olympian.

The pair were forced to walk behind the male Saudi athletes in the Opening Ceremony parade of nations, a symbol of an ultra-conservative country in which women are actively discouraged from participating in sport.



The judoka Wojdan Shaherkani (left), getting to grips with Puerto Rican Melissa Mojica in a first round bout, is the other woman in the Saudi squad

Both were given rapturous receptions by the British crowds as they took part in their events and their presence in London represents a giant stride forward for gender equality in their country.



Attar, 19, was born and raised in California and trains at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where she is studying art.



She has dual nationality because of her Saudi father Amer and chose to represent the Middle Eastern country.

The Saudi Olympic Committee overturned a ban on women athletes in June despite strong opposition from many quarters of society.



But officials demanded that all female competitors would be dressed 'to preserve their dignity' - hence the modest, long-sleeved garments and hijab covering the hair.



It was reported before the Games that Pepperdine University had been asked to remove photographs from an online biography of Attar because they showed her in a tank top and shorts with no hijab.

Noor Hussain Al-Malki of Qatar pulled up injured during her 100m heat Oman's Shinoona Salah Al-Habsi crosses the line in her 100m heat on Friday

In Saudi Arabia, most women cover their heads and faces in public and wear a black cloak called an abaya.

She is one of a number of Middle Eastern track athletes who have competed in hijabs at the London Games, including Noor Hussain Al-Malki of Qatar and Shinoona Salah al-Habsi of Oman.

There were similar scenes in the Olympic Stadium when the Somalian 400m runner Zamzam Mohamed Farah finished nearly half a minute after the winner in her heat on Friday.

Wearing a blue hijab and 'modest' clothing, Farah was applauded by the crowd as she crossed the line.



Training facilities in Somalia are virtually non-existent, with those that do operate often pock-marked with bullet-holes.

VIDEO: Sarah Attar on being the first Saudi track athlete to compete at the Olympics...



