The 20-year-old, who won individual bronze in Singapore, spoke of her hope of gender equality in all sports.

[2] At the age of 12, she traveled to Rome where she started to compete in more advanced competitions under the supervision of Duccio Bartalucci, a former coach for the national Olympic show jumping team of Italy.

Due to the fact that each country has to field a minimum of one woman in the mandatory quota set by the IOC in order for a nation to take part in the Games, the IOC invited Malhas to represent Saudi Arabia, although her links with that country are not strong.

When interviewed during the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, she admitted: "I didn’t care much about me being there as a representative of Saudi Arabia, because anyone could probably do that.

[4] However, Malhas was disqualified from the Games in late June for failing to meet minimum eligibility standards, according to the International Equestrian Federation.