RIYADH: Two Saudi women are aiming to make history as the first female athletes from the Kingdom to participate in the annual Dakar Rally, as part of a team dubbed the “Sheroes.”
Co-captains Dania Akeel and Mashael Alobaidan hope to become a symbol of the country’s development and inspire women in Saudi Arabia to pursue their passions and follow their dreams, with a six-month project designed to train them up for the race in 2022.
Akeel, who is also one of Sheroes’ project managers, said that she has been passionate about driving for as long as she can remember. She rode her first quad bike aged 8, and her first 150cc dirt bike in the desert at 14.