Dubai: The chief of the UAE Athletics Federation (UAEAF) is hopeful of a much better showing at the Pan-Arab Athletics Championships to be held in Damascus, Syria, next month.
"This is our chance to show the region and the athletics' world that we are ready to take the sport a step forward here," Ahmad Al Kamali, President of the UAEAF, told Gulf News.
As many as 25 selected athletes have been undergoing specialised altitude training in Syria since last week. The athletes will return to the UAE for three days of Eid holidays before heading back for a final camp in Damascus leading up the competition that is scheduled from October 6 to 11.
"I think we have the chance of picking up a few gold medals this time," Al Kamali stated.
The squad members tipped to win in Damascus are Omar Juma Al Sulfa (200m), Mohammad Abbas (triple jump), Ayub Sarwash (20km walk) and Ali Obaid (400m hurdles), provided he recovers from his hamstring injury.
"It's a tough situation to be in, but we are pleased that things are much better now than before. Initially, we used to have two or three athletes representing the country. But now, we have a pool of more than 25 athletes to choose from," Al Kamali stated.
After the Pan-Arab meet, the UAE athletes will next head for the Islamic Games to be held in the third week of October in Iran followed by the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Hanoi, Vietnam, from October 28 to November 2.
"We will have just three athletes travelling to Hanoi for the indoor competition - Omar Juma Al Sulfa for the 60m, Mohammad Abbas in the triple jump and Ali Obaid in the 400m run," Al Kamali disclosed.
Immediately after this will be the Asian Athletics Championships to be held in China from November 2-8. "This competition will be the real big challenge for us as the UAE will know where we stand in Asia. Our intention is to see that our athletes do well so that they can start preparing for bigger challenges ahead," Al Kamali stated.
The biggest one among these will be the representation at the 2012 London Olympic Games. "Before that there is the Asian Games in China in 2010 and all this will get us prepared for the big competitions ahead," Al Kamali said.
"By the time we finish off with the Asian Games in China, we will have a right indication of what the UAE athletics team for the London Games will be like. "
