Abu Dhabi: The President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan bestowed honour upon top UAE athletes who brought laurels to the country, along with officials and others who were instrumental in achieving progress and improvement in the sector of youth and sports.
The glittering ceremony was held on Tuesday night at the National Theatre in the presence of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, who presented the awards.
Among those who attended the function were Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and President of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), and chairmen of sports associations and senior officials.
"On behalf of all our country's athletes, I express our gratitude and thanks to the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his continuous support to the development of youth and sports, and to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and to their brothers Their Highnesses the members of the Supreme Council, the rulers of the emirates, for their support and for providing all facilities to the youngsters of our country to excel in their respective field of sports," Al Owais said.
"We are proud of the achievements of our athletes which is reflected in the growing number of those who are being honoured. Five years ago, the number was only 127 persons.
"The honouring is a clear message to all our athletes to do their best for their country," Al Owais said. In all, 391 persons, 76 officials, 60 coaches and 281 athletes, who won 230 medals in regional, continental and international competitions, were honoured on the occasion. There were 36 medal winners in international competitions, 43 in Asian competitions, 116 in Arab competitions and 35 in GCC competitions.
Associations honoured
Following associations were also honoured: Football Association for winning two medals; Marine Sports Federation, 8 medals; Volleyball, one medal; Cycling Federation, 20 medals; Athletics Federation, 10 medals; Swimming Association, 3 medals; Chess Federation, 20 medals; Tennis, 7 medals, Bowling, 9 medals, Billiards and Snooker, 12 medals, Taekwondo and Karate, one medal; Shooting, 16 medals, Weightlifting, 22 medals; Bodybuilding, 17 medals; Disabled and Special Needs Federation, 29 medals; Equestrian and Horse Racing, 3 medals; Ice Hockey, 2 medals; Fencing, 4 medals; Schools Sports Association, 10 medals, Wrestling and Judo, 5 medals; Universities Sports Association, 16 medals; and the Modern Sailing and Rowing Association, 3 medals.
Athletes who won four medals in the sailing competition of the 1st Gulf Beach Championship, and two medals in the 2nd Gulf Beach Championship were honoured, together with the winners of the medals in the Asian Games in equestrian, athletics and shooting competition last year in China. The total cash prizes was Dh 12,287,500.
"The honour bestowed on the athletes by the President is a gesture of his belief in the sector of youth and sports in our country and to enable them to achieve progress and development to their country," Ebrahim Abdul Malek, Secretary-General of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, told Gulf News.
