Manama: Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah has offered two Kuwaiti shooters, who won medals in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics (Rio2016), KD150,000 and two plots of land.
Fehaid Al Deehani won gold in the men's double trap, beating Italian shooter Marco Innocenti of Italy who took silver and British shooter Steven Scott who claimed the bronze.
Shaikh Sabah awarded him KD100,000 and a plot of residential land, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.
Abdullah Al Rashidi who won the Olympic bronze in the men's skeet was awarded KD50,000 and an industrial plot of land. He was also given a Kuwaiti medal of the first class.
Shaikh Sabah, receiving the two shooters on Tuesday, lauded their achievements and called on all Kuwaiti athletes to follow their examples, affirming that the two sportsmen made Kuwait as well as Arab and Muslim nations proud, the state-run news agency said.
Al Deehani made history by becoming the first independent athlete to win a gold medal at an Olympics.
Kuwaiti athletes were forced to take part in Rio 2016 as neutrals after Kuwait was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other leading federations such as FIFA, football's world body, over claims of government interference in sport.
Al Deehani, an army officer, was the first Kuwaiti athlete to win an Olympic medal, a bronze at Sydney in 2000. He added a second bronze medal in London in 2012.
Both Al Deehani and Al Rashidi were given jubilant receptions upon arriving home from Brazil.
