A Clear Message for Gender Equality

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted the first edition of the World Taekwondo Women's Open Championships between the 25th and 27th of November. This championship is considered the first of its kind for female athletes only whereas World Taekwondo used to organize world championships for both males and females together in one event.

Ten Saudi female athletes were amongst the 171 players and 85 officials from 36 countries took part in the historic event taking place in the capital Riyadh. Many Olympic and world female champions were seen in the event, like Olympic medalists Tatiana Minina, Ruth Gbagbi, Tijana Bogdanovic, Bianca Walkden, as well as refugee athlete and Olympic and world medalist Kimia Alizadeh who competed across eight weight categories, namely -46kg, -49kg, -53kg, -57kg, -62kg, -67kg and -73kg, in addition to the open weight class.

The ten pioneering players representing the Kingdom are Tayba Al Sharif, Lara Kazim, Rahaf Al Shammari, Nuha Al Maymani, Ethar Hayvan, Sara Al Shaer, Abrar Bukhari, Mays Al Shammari, Dunya Abu Talib and Turtila Al Taweel. The team is led by Nujood Al Imam, in addition to Coach Fatimah Hayat, and physiotherapists Amna Al Assaf and Raghad Al Ghamdi.

In his speech at the spectacular opening ceremony, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdul Aziz, the executive director of the Saudi Olympic Committee welcomed the participating teams and officials where he also stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing a sports movement developing in many sports and that the World Female Taekwondo Championship is just a step forward to encourage women’s sports in the kingdom.

World Taekwondo President Chou Chung-won expressed his excitement about the inaugural competition which highlights Taekwondo's place as a global sport. "We pride ourselves on being gender-equal. We have Olympians, world champions and aspiring athletes from four continents competing at the competition and I have no doubt they will showcase the very best of Taekwondo," said Chou.

World Taekwondo's confidence in choosing the Kingdom as a host country for the first edition of the largest event in the sport is an extension of the great confidence placed on Saudi sport in recent years by international and continental federations, which is a testament to the growth of the Kingdom on the global scene.

President of the Saudi Taekwondo Federation Mr. Shaddad Al Amri described the inauguration of the World Taekwondo Women's Open Championships as "a historic decision for sport in Saudi Arabia.”

"We are fully prepared from all technical and organizational aspects, and the Saudi female players are raring to go as well in what will be the largest Saudi team to compete in a global competition like this," added Al Amri.

Egyptian Olympic Committee member of the board and Egyptian Taekwondo Federation President and Vice President of African Taekwondo Union, Amr Selim said: "Egypt is very keen to support Saudi Arabia in such an important sports event, and despite the fact that we are preparing now a new team, we decided to join in and support our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia."

Selim added, " organizing the first female world championship in Saudi Arabia is not only a very good chance for athletes to gain experience but for also delivering a very strong message to the whole world that Islam is not against gender equality as long it keeps women’s respect and progress."