Rushdi Malhas, it said, was likely to compete. I.O.C. spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau, however, indicated that the Committee "would not mandate that the Saudis have female representation in London", arguing that "the I.O.C. does not give ultimatums nor deadlines but rather believes that a lot can be achieved through dialogue". An unnamed senior sports official anonymously told Associated Press that sports authorities wished to develop women's participation in sports, but that they were "fighting deeply entrenched traditions". It was also confirmed that the Saudi national Olympic Committee would not prevent Malhas from competing at the London Games. More specifically, she would be permitted to compete if she were invited to the Games by the I.O.C., but Saudi Arabia would not be inviting her to do so itself. Instead, the country was preparing to select four male riders to send to the equestrian competition. (The sixth fundamental principle of Olympism as defined by the Olympic Charters states that "Any form of discrimination [...] on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." The fourth principle states that "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind". The seventh principle states that "Belonging to the Olympic Movement requires compliance with the Olympic Charter".) In late June 2012, the country announced that it would permit women's participation, and that its Olympic Committee would "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify". At the time, Malhas was "the only Saudi female competitor at Olympic standard", making it likely that she would be the only woman Saudi participant in the Games. The BBC described the decision as "a huge step, overturning deep-rooted opposition from those opposed to any public role for women". It noted that the change had been "led by King Abdullah, who has long been pushing for women to play a more active role in Saudi society". Malhas, however, stated she would not be able to compete in London, due to an injury her horse had suffered, but hoped to do so in 2016. The IOC announced in mid July 2012 that Saudi Arabia had entered two female athletes, Judoka Wojdan Shaherkani and 800m-runner Sarah Attar, to participate in the 2012 Olympics. Athletics Saudi athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes