Saudi Arabia Sends 2 Female Athletes To Compete In London 2012 For The First Time In Olympic History

TWO female Saudi Arabian athletes will take part in the London 2012 Games, the International Olympic Committee have confirmed.

Sarah Attar will compete in the 800m while Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani will take part in the judo competition.

The announcement follows months of negotiations - with Saudi Olympic chiefs at one point insisting no women would be allowed to take part.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said: "This is very positive news and we will be delighted to welcome these two athletes in London in a few weeks time.

"The IOC has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition.

"The IOC has been striving to ensure a greater gender balance at the Olympic Games, and today's news can be seen as an encouraging evolution. With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei Darussalam, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games."

VIDEO: Watch the women train and hear how excited they are to go to the Olympics...