RIYADH: Saudi national karate team athlete Dina Mustafa achieved a historic milestone by winning the bronze medal at the 20th Asian Games (Nagoya 2026), becoming the first Saudi female athlete to win a women’s medal for the Kingdom in its history of participation in the Asian Games.
Mustafa won bronze in the women’s 68 kilograms category after a fiercely contested third-place playoff against Nepal’s Arika Gurung. The Saudi athlete came from behind, overturning a 3-0 deficit to secure an 8-7 victory and etch her name in the record of Saudi sporting achievements, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Her teammate Saud Al-Bashir added Saudi Arabia’s second bronze medal at the games after defeating Nepal’s Tamang 2-0 in the 60 kilogram category.
Al-Bashir reached this stage following a campaign that saw him defeat Thailand’s Siwakon Mueakthong on advantage after their bout ended in a 5-5 draw. He then lost to Kuwait’s Abdullah Shaaban 11-8 before defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Kalykov 10-2.
President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Minister of Sport Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, who heads the delegation, attended several competitions involving Saudi teams held today in Nagoya.
In triathlon, Vice President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Vice Head of the Saudi delegation Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, who also serves as President of the Asian Triathlon Confederation, crowned the winners of the men’s individual event held today in the Japanese city of Gamagori as part of the Asian Games.
