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Golden boy Zahmi receives royal welcome

Mohammad Salem Abdullah Zahmi, the UAE's gold medallist bodybuilder at the Asian Games, returned home to a royal treatment when he was received by Shaikh Hamad.

  • By Fuad Ali, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:35 May 3, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Fuad Ali/Gulf News
  • Shaikh Hamad receives Mohammad Salem Abdullah Zahmi (centre), the UAE's gold medal hero, at his palace in Madab.

Fujairah: Mohammad Salem Abdullah Zahmi, the UAE's gold medallist bodybuilder at the Doha Asian Games, returned home to a royal treatment yesterday when he was received by His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Fujairah, at his palace in Madab.

Mohammad, 23, who created history by winning the UAE's first-ever gold at the Games, was joined by the rest of the bodybuilding team as well as officials from the UAE's National Olympic Committee.

Fears over losing his job at the Water and Electricity Authority for being away from work for over a month threatened to overshadow Mohammad's achievements, but that was all put behind as Mohammad confirmed he received calls from his superiors at work reaffirming his job was secure.

Officials from the NOC couldn't hide their frustration at what they see is a general lack of support from "some" government and public institutes over the release of athletes competing in international competitions.

At their modest home in Fujairah, Al Zahmi's family says they were flooded by phones and visitors congratulating them on Mohammad's success.

Khadija Al Sa'adi, Mohammad's mother, admitted that she and the family religiously followed Mohammad's progress and prayed for him, she was still taken by surprise by his win.

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"We couldn't believe he did it," she said with a radiant smile on her face. "He had worked so hard for this and we felt so happy for him to win in such a big tournament".

Mohammad's mother recounted how he first started in the sport - admitting she didn't initially feel it would do him any good.

Tremendous dedication

She said: "When he first started bringing the weights home for workouts, I told him this was an alien activity to us and he should instead concentrate on his studies... but soon we noticed that he was dedicated to the sport. We got behind him and started supporting him".

Salem Abdullah Al Zahmi, Mohammad's father and brother Ali Salem, one of 22 siblings of Mohammad, recalled how Mohammad was overwhelmed when the family received him at the airport on Sunday evening.

The family paid tributes to Mohammad's dedication as they described how much he loved bodybuilding even - though it was financially very draining on his modest salary.

They now hope his success at Doha will help ease the financial burden for his training - allowing him the chance to pursue a family life of his own.

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