Hear Igelström in the player above.
Mashael Alayed has written herself into the Saudi Arabian history books – as the first woman to swim in an Olympics.
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The 17-year-old, who has been swimming since she was six, did not advance from the trials in the 200 meter freestyle despite a new personal best. After her Olympic debut, she is praised by the Swedish legend Emma Igelström – who started several swimming academies in Saudi Arabia.
“One of the country’s biggest icons”
– She has received an extreme amount of attention. It hasn’t even been possible to watch swimming, now she is one of the country’s biggest icons, she tells SVT Sport.
She continues:
– Historically speaking, women have not had rights and there are still things that can be discussed. What I’m happy about is that it’s going in the right direction, you can see that the girls have faith in the future.
“Mother stood and cried”
Igelström believes that since she arrived in Saudi Arabia she has seen a huge progress in sports in general – and that sports make girls dream.
– A mother stood and cried because her daughter had to learn to swim. It was her big dream but she didn’t get the opportunity to realize it, and now she gets to see her daughter swim. It was the kind of occasion that felt right in the spine.