Dubai: The President of the UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC) has called on all athletes representing the country to prepare to be serious contenders for medals at the Rio Olympic Games.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President, UAE NOC presided at a meeting of the Executive Committee at its headquarters late on Monday, where he urged the UAE’s athletes to be among serious contenders for medals.
“Perhaps on past occasions our athletes have not been taken seriously. But those days are well past us and we are a sporting country where our athletes are capable of delivering on the big stage,” Shaikh Ahmad told media after the meeting.
“Since the past few years, we have taken into consideration the preparation process for all our athletes. We have invested in their preparations and we hope these preparations will help them deliver some top-class performances in Rio de Janeiro,” he added.
At least nine athletes from the UAE have qualified for Rio Games, to be held from August 5-21. Three of them are shooters, another three will be in the judo competition along with two in track and field and one in cycling. In addition, the UAE NOC is expecting at least three quota spots, one in track and field and two in swimming.
Making the cut for Rio so far are Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum (Skeet); Khalid Al Ka’abi (Double Trap) and Saif Bin Futais (Double Trap), along with the country’s two distance runners Bethlem Desalegn (10,000m) and Alia Mohammad Saeed (5,000m). In cycling, Yousuf Al Mirza has earned a direct qualifying spot along with the three naturalised Moldovan-born judokas Victor Scvortov, Sergiu Toma and Ivan Remarenco.
Four years back at the London Olympic Games, the UAE had eight athletes representing the country in individual sports along with the nation’s football team that got knocked off at the end of the preliminary rounds itself.
At Monday’s meeting, Shaikh Ahmad personally inspected the training programmes of all athletes and instructed officials from the UAE NOC to ensure they have everything at the disposal to prepare for such an important event.
“For a small and modern country like the UAE, 12 athletes is a good number. Of these, nine have qualified on merit and that says a lot about the improvement we have achieved in sport. From now on, we would rather have our athletes qualifying and representing the country instead of utilising the quota system,” Shaikh Ahmad stressed.
Joining Shaikh Ahmad at the meeting was Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Vice-President and Chairman of the Executive Board, UAE NOC and Mohammad Al Kamali, General Secretary, UAE NOC along with officials Mohammad Hilal Al Ka’abi, Dawood Al Hajiri and Obaid Salem Al Shamsi.
