Saudi Gazette report

TOKYO — Saudi rower Hussein Alireza and the Saudi female sprinter Yasmine Al-Dabbagh carried Saudi Arabia’s flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Friday.

Tarek Hamdi, the first Saudi karate player to participate in the Olympics, will be the Saudi flag bearer during the closing ceremony of the Olympics on Aug. 8.

Saudi Arabia is participating in the Olympic Games with its largest-ever delegation in the history of the games. The Saudi Olympic Committee chose Hussein Alireza, the first Saudi rower, to participate in the Olympics while Al-Dabbagh was the fastest Saudi female athlete in the 100-meter race.

Alireza will take to the water on Friday in the heats of the men’s singles while Al-Dabbagh will line in the 100m heats on July 30, the first day of the athletics competitions. Hamdi is the most decorated athlete in the Saudi delegation, with seven gold medals from various competitions. His competition in the 75kg category of karate will begin on Aug. 6.

The 11 individual athletes who are participating in the games also include Youssef Bouarish (swimming), Ali Al-Khadrawi (table tennis), Saeed Al-Mutairi (shooting), Suleiman Hammad (Judo), Mahmoud Al-Ahmeed (weightlifting), Siraj Al-Saleem (weightlifting), and Mazen Al-Yassin (400 meters race). The Saudi team will participate in nine games — football, karate, weightlifting, archery, rowing, swimming, athletics, judo, and table tennis.

Minister of Sports and President of the Saudi Olympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal is heading the Saudi delegation participating in the Olympic Games. Saudi Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema Bint Bandar, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, is participating in her capacity as a member of the Saudi Olympic Committee, in addition to Prince Fahd Bin Jalawi, vice president of the Saudi Olympic Committee.