Dubai: The experts tasked UAE’s future Olympic ambitions feel that the special batch of students have emerged as better athletes at the end of their three-week stint in Italy.
The UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC) had sent a squad of 82 juniors selected after the second edition of the UAE School Olympics earlier this summer. The camp was being held in cooperation between the UAE NOC and the Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (Coni) at specialised Centres of Olympic Preparation (CoP) in Formia and Rome from August 3 to 24.
The 82 athletes in the 13-14 years age group were from four sporting disciplines: track and field, shooting, archery and fencing. The external training camp was part of the UAE NOC’s initiative to develop and prepare promising talent capable of delivering international performances for the country in the future.
Recently, the UAE NOC constituted a high-powered committee of seasoned experts chaired by 2004 Olympic double-trap shooting gold medallist, Shaikh Ahmad Hasher Al Maktoum along with Wolfgang Thiel of Germany; former Olympic long-distance running champion Saeed Aouita from Morocco; shooting expert Sergei Matrossian, from Ukraine; South Korean archery champion Jeong-ho Kim; and Tunisia’s Dr. Ramzi Baltayeb, who is an expert in biological sciences.
“During the camp, these students were subjected to a series of technical and physical tests in order to assess their capabilities and identify their talents before joining the elite club,” confirmed Thiel.
“And now that this camp is over, we start the most important part as we will need to continue building up these promising youngsters keeping the future in mind,” he added.
Matrossian, who was a member of the Ukrainian Olympic team, was pleased with the mental fortitude of his young pupils. “Three weeks of hard work has done a great deal for these shooters. I am happy with the way they responded to every challenge thrown at them. Over a period of time we will need to refine and hone their skills so that we have some very talented individuals representing the UAE at international competitions in the future,” the Ukrainian coach said.
While the athletes have gone back to their homes, the committee of experts will now meet and narrow down on athletes who have excelled during the training camp in Italy so that they can form an Elite Club of juniors.
“These athletes showed a lot of technical and physical competence, but the finer points of punctuality, discipline, strong will and determination also helped them becoming better sports professionals. This is a step in the right direction,” noted Dr Baltayeb.
“There is a lot of reason to be optimistic about the future of sports in the UAE,” he added.
