Fatema Hameed Gerashi was the youngest athlete of any event and of any nationality to compete at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics at the age of 12. She was also the first Olympic female athlete from a Gulf Arab nation. The IOC gave Gerashi a wild card and she was granted permission by her parents to compete in Sydney. She began swimming at the age of seven and later joined the Bahrain Swimming Association. However, local Muslim customs forbade Hameed from swimming with men until she began training at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. On 22 September, Gerash swam in heat one of the women's 50 metre freestyle event and swam against two competitors. She finished second with a time of 51.15 seconds but officials disqualified her because she wobbled on the starting blocks, which was deemed a false start despite her not being the first competitor to enter the water. Although Gerashi was disappointed, she said, "It felt great. But I was very scared on the blocks. My heart was going very fast. I was thinking about all the training I'd done and trying to make my family happy." She received praise from the press for competing in the Games as it was reportedly part of the Bahraini government's stated effort to promote "equality in sport".