• Qatari female runner's chance at the Games comes to an abrupt end
    37 replies, posted
[QUOTE]LONDON – Noor Hussain Al-Malki created a slice of history on Friday even as she sat on the track at the Olympic Stadium on Friday with her head bowed, tears welling in the corner of her eyes and her teeth gritted from the pain of a pulled hamstring. The 17-year-old became the first female athlete to compete in an Olympic Games from Qatar, which previously barred women due to religious and cultural protocols. Al-Malki entered the 100 meters thanks to the wildcard system that offers places to competitors from traditionally weaker Games nations. With a personal best more than two seconds outside the world record, she was not expected to be any kind of a threat. [ Related: Afghani sprinter vows to show women new future ] Sadly, her Olympic adventure lasted just a couple of seconds. As a nervous Al-Malki pushed out of the starting blocks, she immediately clutched at her right leg, wincing in pain. After a couple of steps, she collapsed to the track and stayed there as her fellow competitors sprinted toward the finish line. Track officials came to her aid and eventually helped her from the arena. "I am sad," Al-Malki said to an Arabic television crew as she limped past them. (Getty Images)(Getty Images)Even though Al-Malki's Games ended in a manner that no athlete wants, her journey in even getting to London is a triumph in itself. Yahoo! Sports spoke to Al-Malki by telephone a month ago, and she talked about her wish to serve as a role model to young girls and women in her homeland. "I can't say that I ever dreamed of going to the Olympics when I was growing up," she said. "Because that was just not possible, it was not something you thought about. [ Related: Saudi judoka loses first bout, promises she will be back ] "My dream started when they actually told me I would be competing. It was the best thing I could imagine, to be going to the Olympics. I was not sure it was real, but it was. "I understand the responsibility of this, how important it is to say you are representing your country. It will be my proudest moment and I hope it will show other girls what you can achieve with sport and what it adds to your life. I am not one of the world's best athletes, but I want to show that being athletic is a good thing that should be encouraged." Qatar has made strides to improve its international reputation and hopes to follow up its incredible victory in securing the rights to host the 2022 World Cup with a successful Olympic bid for 2024. To stand any kind of chance, Qatar was told by the International Olympic Committee that it would need to end its discriminatory policies towards female athletes. Qatar was one of only three nations to not send a woman participant to Beijing in 2008 on cultural grounds. [ Video: Afghanistan's only female athlete looks to inspire ] Women in the Middle East still face a battle for social equality, but programs such as those brought in by Qatar are a step in the right direction. The country has opened a development center where teenage girls are actively encouraged to conduct athletic training under the supervision of skilled coaches. Al-Malki was able to take only a few steps down the London track on Friday, but for her, an even more important race has already been run. "I am an Olympian," she said. "A female Olympian from Qatar. That is wonderful." [/QUOTE] [IMG]http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/7OCnmivaqxEBEVPnEh74YQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzAwMjtjcj0xO2N3PTQ1MDM7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQyMDtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/gettyimages.com/olympics-day-7-athletics-20120803-035341-971.jpg[/IMG] [URL]http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--qatar-runner-s-historic-run-to-the-olympics-comes-to-abrupt--heartbreaking-end.html[/URL]
That's crazy!
That god damn title
[QUOTE=Glitch360;37079984]That god damn title[/QUOTE] quite sensationalist eh?
The way the title was I thought someone hopped the fence into the stadium or something and got shot.
What's with all the over-the-top titles recently god damn
Can you change the title? I thought someone had gotten run over or something At least she represented her country. That's an achievement in itself.
The fuck? I was expecting a homicidal streaker, not some poor girl's hopes being dashed.
Please change the title, I understand making it seem a little more dramatic than it is, but the title is completely unrelated to anything in the article.
what a stupid, mostly unrelated title
[QUOTE=Flicky;37080050]Please change the title, I understand making it seem a little more dramatic than it is, but the title is completely unrelated to anything in the article.[/QUOTE] read the name of the forum you are on
I love how every reply is about the title, even this one!
[QUOTE=BadDrum;37080064]read the name of the forum you are on[/QUOTE] It should be fucking related to the damn article at least you numbnuts.
Did OP really have to ham up that title?
[QUOTE=Dj-J3;37080069]I love how every reply is about the title, even this one![/QUOTE] FINE I feel bad for her. I wonder what caused the injury.
Did they fire any missiles this time? [sp]I know I didn't read the article either.[/sp]
[QUOTE=BadDrum;37080064]read the name of the forum you are on[/QUOTE] Within reason man,
[QUOTE=BadDrum;37080064]read the name of the forum you are on[/QUOTE] Get out anyway, she's nice i suppose, representing a country that treats women as animals this is a pretty big step forward
[QUOTE=BadDrum;37080064]read the name of the forum you are on[/QUOTE] Facepunch. OH! You mean the [I]sub[/I]forum, yeah that's Sensationalist Headlines.
Quick question OP, where's the source?
[QUOTE=Megafan;37080266]Quick question OP, where's the source?[/QUOTE] Sorry megafan, source is [url]http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--qatar-runner-s-historic-run-to-the-olympics-comes-to-abrupt--heartbreaking-end.html[/url]
getting anywhere near such a position as someone with her background is arguably just as inspiring as anyone else winning. lots of tears being shed this year either way, though.
[QUOTE=BadDrum;37080291]Sorry megafan, source is [url]http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--qatar-runner-s-historic-run-to-the-olympics-comes-to-abrupt--heartbreaking-end.html[/url][/QUOTE] Alright, good. Now I've changed the title to something more in line with the article's real title, so do keep in mind that the section name here is [I]not[/I] literal.
[QUOTE=Megafan;37080358]Alright, good. Now I've changed the title to something more in line with the article's real title, so do keep in mind that the section name here is [I]not[/I] literal.[/QUOTE] Alright, thanks. I knew that, its just the title seemed something more interesting.
That headline got fixed fast.
What WAS the title? I'm curious as hell now.
Where the fuck is quatar?
[QUOTE=MightyMax;37080506]Where the fuck is quatar?[/QUOTE] It's in Asia. Also, did you know that if someone from Qatar was to get banned from facepunch, their entire country would be banned because Qatar uses only 1 ip?
[QUOTE=MightyMax;37080506]Where the fuck is quatar?[/QUOTE] [img]http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_map/qatar.gif[/img] Right there apparently.
[QUOTE=DrBreen;37080237]anyway, she's nice i suppose, representing a country that treats women as animals this is a pretty big step forward[/QUOTE] you have [B]NO[/B] idea what you are talking about [QUOTE=DrBreen;37080237]Get out[/QUOTE] [editline]4th August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=BadDrum;37080524]It's in Asia. Also, did you know that if someone from Qatar was to get banned from facepunch, their entire country would be banned because Qatar uses only 1 ip?[/QUOTE] Bullshit.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.