Saudi Arabia’s Tahani al-Qahtani, one of 33 athletes representing the Kingdom at the Tokyo Olympics this year, has received widespread support online ahead of her match up against Israeli competitor Raz Hershko on Friday.
Al-Qahtani, one of two Saudi female Olympians in Tokyo, was drawn in round 32 of the women’s Judo event in the 78 kg category.
According to informed sources who talked to the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Saudi Arabia’s delegation gave al-Qahtani the go-ahead to confront her Israeli counterpart in order to avoid any international Olympic sanctions imposed on her and the Saudi Judo Federation.
Thousands of tweets on Sunday showed support for al-Qahtani, with the hashtags “Tahani al-Qahtani” and “We are all Tahani al-Qahtani” trending on the social media platform in Saudi Arabia for most of the day.
“Do not give up and face her. Fake tournaments, You are a hero in our eyes, either you win or lose. Ghadah Alghunaim, a Saudi Twitter user, tweeted, “Good luck, the pride of the country.”
The International Judo Federation on Saturday suspended Algerian judo athlete Fethi Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef for withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics before his event started, after the draw set him on course for a match against an Israeli counterpart.
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