if she wasn't required to wear traditional Islamic clothing. She has clocked 100 meters in 11.61 seconds before. Not too shabby, all things considered. I think the women's world record for the event is about 10.4 seconds. Ruqaya Al Ghasra probably still couldn't win, but I'll bet she'd be a lot faster with better clothing and equipment.

From MSNBC

August 19 | 1:17 p.m. ET

Mark Starr: Ruqaya Al Ghasra will have her 11.39 seconds of fame tomorrow. Al Ghasra, who is from the tiny Kingdom of Bahrain, will become the first Arab woman ever to run the 100 meters at the Olympics. (A Kuwaiti runner will share that honor in the same heat.) While Al Ghasra’s time may not be good enough to survive past the first heat of the four-round sprint event, it is competitive and fairly remarkable given that she runs fully covered from head to toe in clothes that, in keeping with hejab, are not designed with optimal aerodynamics in mind. The Bahrain Olympic Committee thinks her wardrobe might prove to be less of a problem if they can entice Nike to tackle the problem. With just a few tweaks Nike’s new full-body swift suit, designed for the U.S. team, would provide the additional coverage required by her Islamic faith.