Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Coinciding with the countdown to the 33rd Summer Olympic Games—Paris 2024, the French Embassy in the Sultanate of Oman, in collaboration with the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC), represented by the Oman Women’s Sports and Gender Equality Committee, organised the dialogue session "Women and Sports." This event aimed to enhance the role of women in sports through local, regional, and international efforts, sharing experiences to achieve a more inclusive and balanced future in sports.
The event took place last Wednesday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Baushar, under the patronage of Sayyidah Sana bint Hamad Al-Busaidi, Chairwoman of Oman Women’s Sports and Gender Equality Committee, and in the presence of Her Excellency Véronique Aulagnon, Ambassador of the Republic of France to the Sultanate of Oman. The session featured six prominent female speakers who shared their inspiring experiences in empowering women through sports, presenting their success stories and insights on enhancing women's participation in various sports activities and achieving a balance between sports, professional, and personal life.
The session's goal was to highlight the importance of empowering women in sports, exchanging experiences and inspiring visions to support women in achieving distinguished sports accomplishments, raising awareness of the role of sports in achieving sustainable development, and contributing to building a more balanced society.
The session began with a speech by Her Excellency Véronique Aulagnon, who spoke about Paris hosting the 33rd Summer Olympic Games in 2024. She noted that this event represents a significant opportunity to enhance women's participation in sports globally. Her Excellency emphasised that Paris will witness the largest female participation in the history of the Olympic Games, reflecting the International Olympic Committee's commitment to gender equality. She also expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the Oman Olympic Committee and the Omani Committee for Women’s Sports and Gender Equality for their continuous efforts to support and empower women in sports and enhance cooperation between the two countries to achieve shared goals in this field.
Saada Al Ismaili, Deputy Chairwoman of Oman Women’s Sports and Gender Equality Committee, highlighted the committee's role in supporting and encouraging women to participate in sports activities. She shared her personal experience in sports, pointing out the challenges she faced and how she overcame them. She also emphasised the importance of supporting female athletes through programs and initiatives that enhance their participation in various sports activities.
Rumaitha Al Busaidi, a presenter and activist, discussed the role of media in supporting women's sports and how media can effectively highlight women's sports achievements and the challenges they face.
Adventure athlete Nour Al Huda Al Mandhari shared her experience as a mountaineer and adventurer, emphasising the importance of overcoming challenges and barriers to achieve sports ambitions and the crucial role of community and family support in empowering women.
Yaqeen Al Kindi shared her experience as an equestrian, her challenges in this field, and how she balanced her passion for sports with her personal and professional life.
Marwa Al Wadhahi talked about her experience as a weightlifter, the importance of physical and mental strength in achieving success, and the challenges women face in various sports.
Neha Deshmukh shared her experience as a yoga instructor, highlighting the importance of practising yoga to enhance women's physical and mental health and how yoga can achieve balance in life.
Additionally, a video featuring Captain Banin Makhaif discussed her experience as a player representing various Iraqi women's football clubs, later becoming an assistant coach and a third-grade federal referee with the Iraq Football Federation. She highlighted the certificates and achievements she obtained and the training workshops she participated in throughout her sports career, notably her visit to a football school in Paris and the key programs and lessons learned from that experience.
Notably, the French capital, Paris, will host the Summer Olympic Games for the 3rd time in history at the end of July next year, having previously hosted the games in 1900 and 1924. The event will see approximately 10,500 athletes representing 206 Olympic Committees competing in 32 sports and 48 sports events.
