For weeks now, Saudi Arabia has sent mixed signals about whether it would include women, for the first time, on its Olympic team. Just days ago, a Saudi paper report seemed definitive: no female athletes made the cut.

As the deadline drew closer for making a decision, human rights groups pressured the International Olympic Committee to ban Saudi Arabia for failing again to comply with the Olympic charter, which explicitly demands gender equality.

IOC officials, meanwhile, continued negotiating with Saudi officials on how, or even if, women might be included.

Then on Thursday, the IOC finally announced a "breakthrough." Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and Sarah Attar would be added to the Saudi team, participating in judo and the 800-metre track event, respectively.

With Qatar and Brunei also sending their own female Olympic athletes for the first time, London 2012 will be the very first Games at which every member nation will be represented by at least one woman. (Qatar is sending four female athletes, including a swimmer, and Brunei is sending a lone hurdler.)

It is, admittedly, historic, but less than ideal. The Saudi women were "invited" by the IOC to participate. In other words, they did not qualify the way they would have if Saudi actually nurtured women's sports and allowed the development of exceptional female athletes.

"Without policy changes to allow women and girls to play sports and compete within the kingdom, little can change for millions of women and girls deprived of sporting opportunities," Human Rights Watch researcher Christoph Wilcke said in a statement.

"Women's sports," he added, "have a long way to go in Saudi Arabia."

Driving change

Indeed they do. Saudi is, after all, one of the most conservative countries on Earth. Women are effectively second-class citizens, with lesser rights in just about every arena — including sports.

Qatari athlete Noor al-Malki, 17, is one of four women athletes from the Muslim nation to compete in the London Games. She is not expecting a medal, just to break her own record in the 100 metres, she says. (Osama Faisal / Associated Press)

So it was no surprise that within moments of the announcement, naysayers in the Muslim kingdom took to the internet to denounce it.

"God, do not punish us for what these fools have done," tweeted one man, condemning the Saudi Olympic committee. "It's a door to corruption, a great evil," tweeted another.

Clearly attempting to pre-empt that kind of criticism, Thursday's announcement was preceded by a decree from the Saudi sports minister and head of its Olympic committee, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal. He said female Olympic participation was acceptable only as long as the athlete is dressed according to Sharia law, her male guardian gives permission (and attends with her) and she does not mix with men.

So no one should confuse the decision to send Saudi women to the Games with a relaxation in the way they have long been treated. Nor can it be viewed as anything resembling a voluntary act by authorities driven by an actual desire to change.

Still, it is a giant concession. And despite it obviously being designed to appease, it could very well have an impact that goes beyond just making Olympic history.

It is one of the extremely rare occasions in recent memory when Saudi Arabia has responded to international pressure on the rights of its women.

Human Rights Watch in particular has been vocal on the matter, issuing report after report demanding the international community act and throw Saudi out of the Games, while the IOC, for its part, counselled patience.

IOC president Jacques Rogge hinted all along that there was still hope the conservative Muslim kingdom would come around, and in Thursday's statement he said he was delighted the intensive talks had "come to fruition."

From the Saudi point of view, however, giving in must have appeared as one terrifyingly slippery slope.

Relent in the face of international pressure and allow women to participate in the Olympics and they might start demanding regular access to organized sport.

After that, they may demand the right to drive (as a few defiant women did earlier this spring, risking arrest). Or maybe even the right to travel alone.

Glimmer of hope

That Saudi went along with the IOC's "invitation" does show that international pressure can sometimes work.

Members of the Jeddah Kings United all-female soccer team practise in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are no actual laws banning women sports in the conservative kingdom but a strong social stigma has prevented their flowering.

Perhaps a door has also been opened for the country's long oppressed women to demand more rights and freedoms.

It's not known precisely what was offered or given in these negotiations with the IOC. Or whether Saudi was ultimately threatened with a ban if it didn't comply with the Olympic rules on gender equality.

(It's also not known why the IOC has long tolerated Saudi and other countries' insistence on sending male-only teams.)

Whatever tactics were used, surely there is a lesson to be learned that may benefit other efforts to force Saudi to treat its women more equally.

There are even other small glimmers of hope that give rise to some optimism.

Many women in Saudi do want to participate in sports, and many of them do so independently and quietly.

And along with the naysayers, there is also a large number of Saudi voices applauding the decision to finally send women to the Olympic Games.

"I am very happy that Saudi women are participating in the Olympics," one woman wrote on Twitter. "It's a small victory, but means a lot."

The debate there rages on. But the fact that the conversation is happening at all is a kind of victory in itself.