The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) was inaugurated in 1964 and was recognised in 1965 under the Olympic Council of Asia. And of course, embracing the Olympic movement and values through developing, promoting and protecting the Olympic Movement in Saudi Arabia, in accordance with the Olympic Charter.
From 1964 to 2020 SAOC had eight presidents starting with His Excellency Shaikh Abdulrahman ibn Abdullah Abalkhail (1964-1975), HRH Prince Faisal ibn Fahad ibn Abdulaziz (1975- 1999), HRH Prince Sultan ibn Fahad ibn Abdulaziz (1999-2011), HRH Prince Nawwaf ibn Faisal ibn Fahad ibn Abdulaziz (2011-2014), HRH Prince Abdullah ibn Musaed ibn Abdulaziz (2014-2017), His Excellency Mohammed ibn Abdulmalki Al Alshaikh (2017), His Excellency Advisor Turki ibn Abdulmohsen Al Alshaikh (2017-2019), and finally HRH Prince Abdulaziz ibn Turki Alfaisal (2019-Present).
The story started when a delegation, led by Dr Saleh bin Nassir later to be known as the first president of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, attended the 62nd IOC session where a vote was held to accept the membership of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee as the sole representative of the Olympic movement in Saudi Arabia, a young country back then that had big ambitions to utilize the power of the Olympic movement and sports to transform the nation. After the approval of SAOC’s membership, Dr Bin Nasser became the first president before resigning two years later.
At the beginning, SAOC was formed by 5 federations only, known as the oldest federations in Saudi which are: Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Saudi Arabian Basketball Federation, Saudi Arabian Cycling Federation, Saudi Arabian Athletics Federation, and the Saudi Arabian Volleyball Federation. In 2020, number of sports federations reached 64.
Twelve participations: 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016
2020 postponed (COVID-19 Pandemic)
Seoul Olympics 1988 - Ibrahim Jafaar - Taekwondo (Try-out Competition)
Sydney Olympics 2000 - Equestrian, and Athletics.
Sydney Olympics 2000 - Khalid Aleid - Equestrian (Individual Show Jumping) - Bronze
Sydney Olympics 2000 - Hadi Souan - Athletics (400m Hurdles) - Silver
London Olympics 2012 - Ramzy Al Duhami, Abdullah Al Saud, Kamal Bahamdan, Abdullah Sharbatly - Equestrian (Team Show Jumping) - Bronze
Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 - Dalma Malhas (Equetrian - Show Jumping) - Bronze
Buenos Aires Youth Olympics 2018 - Mohammed Aseeri (Karate 61kg ) - Gold