Lina Al-Shehri

Pioneered women's sports participation in Saudi Arabia through digital platforms

Lina Al-Shehri is a Saudi Arabian sports pioneer who created SportsWomen.sa in 2020, a digital platform connecting female athletes with training facilities. By 2025, her initiative had registered 20,000+ users and secured government partnerships to build 15 gender-segregated sports centers. Al-Shehri's 2023 documentary Breaking Barriers (available on Alfanar) highlighted challenges facing female athletes, leading to policy changes allowing women's competitive sports participation in public venues. Her Virtual Marathon Network (2024) enabled 5,000+ women to compete internationally via VR technology, earning recognition from the IOC's Women in Sport Commission.