"Saudi Arabia's First Female Olympians" by Joboy Quintos

This is historic. Saudi Arabia will be sending two female athletes to the London Olympics. The oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom was the last to heed the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) moves to end sexual discrimination in sport, following Qatar and Brunei. Judoka Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and middle distance runner Sarah Attar will the first Saudi female Olympians.

Read: "Olympic first as Saudi Arabia names two women in London 2012 team"

Early this month, reports surfaced that the U.S.-born equestrienne Dalma Rushdi Malhas will be London-bound. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) clarified the rumors. It turns out that Malhas' horse sustained an injury, ruling her out of the London Olympics.

Read: "Dalma Rushdi Malhas (SAU, Equestrian)"

Although this is a groundbreaking move, the fact still remains that the rights of women in hardline Saudi Arabia are not at par with that of the more liberalized nations.

On a wider perspective, the statistics look promising. The IOC, according to a CNN report, noted the gradual rise in female participation in the Olympics through the years. The first time London hosted the quadrennial event in 1908, women comprised 1.8% of all athletes. The percentage rose to 9.5% in 1948 and, most recently, 42% in Beijing.

Article by Joboy Quintos

Source: 

CNN

"Kathrine Switzer the Pioneer" by Joboy Quintos

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer became famous as the first female runner to complete the Boston Marathon. A furious race organizer tried to stop Switzer from completing the race, shouting "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers." Her boyfriend came to the rescue and shoved the official aside.

Fast forward to 2012, 45 years after that incident in Boston, women outnumber men 269 to 261 in the U.S. Olympic Team. 

That's what you call progress!

Article by Joboy Quintos

Sources
Kathrine Switzer's Wikipedia Profile
Huffington Post

"10-for-10: Katherine Kay Santos" by Joboy Quintos

Despite the peaks and troughs of the Philippine athletics scene, Filipino women have competed with distinction in the long jump for more than two decades. Since Elma Muros-Posadas’ maiden long jump win in the 1989 edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines had fallen short of the title only once. The last Filipino to win an Asian Games medal was the evergreen Muros-Posadas in 1994. Marestella Torres‘ emphatic win at the 2009 Asian Championships was the most high-profile achievement of a Filipino track & field in recent memory.

Article by Joboy Quintos

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"Dara Torres: An Inspiration!" by Joboy Quintos

Dara Torres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Photo from Bryan Allison)

Dara Torres is a veteran of five Olympic Games, from the Seoul in 1988 all the way to Beijing in 2008. She had amassed a total of 12 Olympic medals, four of them gold. The then 41-year old Dara won three silver medals in Beijing. At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, the 45-year old placed fourth in the 50m freestyle finals, narrowly missing a ticket to her fifth straight Olympics.

Article by Joboy Quintos

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"The Fighting Filipinas: Toni Rivero and Annie Albania" by Joboy Quintos

As an athlete and a patriotic Filipino, it kills me to think that the Philippines has yet to win its first Olympic gold medal. The Philippines has a proud albeit forgotten sports tradition. Mediocrity has been the rule, not the exception. Back in the pre-World War II years, the Philippines - then a Commonwealth of the United States - had won bronze medals in swimming (Teofilo Yldefonso), athletics (Simeon Toribio and Miguel White) and boxing (Jose Villanueva). In the last half century, however, the Philippines had won only 4 Olympic medals, all from amateur boxing.

Read hurdler49's "World Beaters"

We had a couple of close shaves with the gold, with Anthony Villanueva (Jose Villanueva's son) and Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco yielding to their respective opponents at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Games, respectively.

Despite the dearth in Olympic-level talent, our best hopes for a landmark Olympic Gold are none other than our very own version of Superb Señoras. It's ironic to think that for a patriarchal society like the Philippines, the country's front liners in Olympic competition are its women.

Antoinette Rivero made her Olympic debut in Athens 2004. Even though she was just 16-years old at that time, her experience belied her competitive fire. In Athens, she narrowly lost to Greek fighter in the quarterfinals and to a South Korean in the repechage, missing out on a chance for an Olympic podium finish. 4 years later in Beijing, Rivero faltered in the opening round.

The inclusion of Women's Amateur Boxing at the 2012 London Olympics is a big boost to the Philippines' quest for a gold medal. The Filipina amateur boxers are bright hopes, with Annie Albania shining the brightest. Albania, fighting in the 51-kg category, is a three-time Southeast Asian Games medalist. In 2010, she beat hometown bet Ren Cancan to wrest the gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Let's just hope that Albania doesn't push through with her planned retirement.

Article by Joboy Quintos

"Rising Stars" by Joboy Quintos

It's always great to see featured Track Beauty athletes do well in international competition.

The European Championships have seen the rise of Moa Hjelmer, Jiřina Ptácniková, Alina Talai (Alina Talay Аліна Талай), Laura Ikauniece, Nikolia Kyriakopoulou (Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου) and Margrethe Renstrøm.  Dafne Schippers and Gesa Felicitas Krause have also done well in Helsinki, as middle distance runner Katya Kostetskaya (Ekaterina Kostetskaya Екатерина Костецкая) made waves at the Russian Championships.

This confirms the fact that Track Beauty of the Week does not just feature mere eye candies, but women gifted with athletic excellence!

1.) Moa Hjelmer:

Photo from SVD Sport

Moa's surprise 400m dash performance in Helsinki is my favorite moment of the European Championships. Although the newly crowned European Champion had won a 200m dash bronze at the 2011 European U23 championships, her previous best at a major international were semifinals stints at the World Championships in Daegu and the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

2.) Jiřina Ptácniková:

Photo from sport.cz

Coming into Helsinki, the Czech had made the finals of the Daegu World Championships, two editions of the World Indoors, the 2010 European Championships, and the 2011 European Indoor Championships, where she placed fourth. Jirina could not seem to barge into the top three, despite such consistency. 

Her time finally came in Helsinki, where she won the title under the worst conditions possible!

3.) Alina Talai (Alina Talay Аліна Талай)

Photo belmarket.by

The Belarussian hurdler had a breakthrough campaign at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where she won her first ever major international medal - a bronze. She followed this up with a gutsy showing in Helsinki, finishing in second place behind two-time champion Nevin Yanit. 

4.) Laura Ikauniece

Photo from Romualds Vambuts/Sportacentrs.com

Ikauniece might just be the future of heptathlon. She is still just 20-years old and is rapidly improving. Laura had won World Youth silver and European Junior bronze the past few years. Her bronze medal-winning tally of 6,335 in Helsinki came in the wake of five personal bests.

5.) Nikolia Kyriakopoulou (Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου)

Photo from Protein-world.com

The 26-year old Kyriakopoulou has shown excellent form this season, churning out respectable performances in several meets like the Diamond League. Her European Championships bronze in Helsinki is her first ever major championship medal.

6.) Margrethe Renstrøm

Photo from sport.pl

The Norwegian record holder won the bronze in the long jump. Renstrøm flew to a distance of 6.67m in the final, one-hundredth of a second off her 2-year old national record set at the Barcelona European Championships. This was her first major championship medal.

7.) Dafne Schippers

Photo from Erik van Leeuwen

Schippers ran a European-leading time of 22.70s in the semifinals in Helsinki. She failed to replicate her form in the final, however, perhaps because of a lack of practice in the half lap. Dafne is also a talented heptathlete, having scored 6,360 points in Gotzis this season. 

Nevertheless, this was the World Junior and European Junior Heptathlon champion's first appearance at a senior-level final.

8.) Gesa Felicitas Krause

Photo from Matthias Reiß / Andreas Grieß/Wikimedia

As a Daegu finalist, the young Krause was a favorite for a medal in Helsinki. She finished in fourth place behind compatriot Antje Möldner-Schmidt. Krause's transition to the senior ranks seems to be going smoothly. 

The German still has more left in the tank!

9.) Katya Kostetskaya (Ekaterina Kostetskaya Екатерина Костецкая)

Photo from Zimbio/Getty Images

Kostetskaya was actually a talented 400m hurdler, having won World Junior and European Junior titles, before making the big shift to middle distance running. The Russian has not been as successful since changing events. Aside from her silver at the 2007 World University Games, her best finish was fifth at the Daegu World Championships 800m run final.  

This season could just be Katya's time to shine. She came from behind to snatch the Russian 1500m title in Chekosbary, setting a personal best of 3:59.28 - the eight fastest time in the world this season. Kostetskaya also placed third in the 800m final, after running an impressive 1:57.46 (3rd fastest in 2012) in qualifying.

Article by Joboy Quintos