UAE to send biggest ever contingent

Dubai: The UAE National Olympic Committee (NOC) general assembly, chaired by Qasim Sultan, the board of directors first deputy chairman, approved the annual budget for 2008 and the final accounts for the year 2007.

The annual budget for the current year is Dh19.7 million which will cover all the NOC expenses including preparations and participation in the Beijing Olympic Games from August 8 .

UAE will send their biggest delegation ever in the Olympics, which includes Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in taekwondo, Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum in skeet shooting and gold medallist Shaikh Ahmad Bin Hasher Al Maktoum in double trap shooting.

Shaikh Ahmad won the gold medal in the double trap in the 2004 Athens Olympics to become the first-ever medallist for the country in the Games.

Shaikha Latifa Bint Ahmad Al Maktoum will take part in equestrian, Saeed Al Qubaisi in Judo in addition to the two in swimming and athletics to be named later.

Big strides

"The participation in Beijing shows the world the big strides our sport has taken in recent years," Ebrahim Abdul Malek, the NOC Secretary General, told the general assembly which was attended by the associations' representatives and NOC board members.

"In the Athens Games, we took part with four athletes and achieved historic success when Shaikh Ahmad won the first medal for the UAE - that too a gold in the Olympics. Now the number of athletes is doubled and we hope to achieve more success than the solitary one in Athens."

Malek also praised the excellent results which the UAE athletes achieved in the Pan Arab Games held last November in Egypt. "I am sure our athletes will do their best in Beijing to continue the good work in Athens and the Pan Arab Games in Egypt last year when we won 25 medals, seven of which were gold.

"We took part in the 2007 Asian Winter Games in China with the ice-hockey team and the Asian Indoor Games in Macau where Mohammad Shihab won a gold in snooker," said the NOC Secretary General.

"The participation in Beijing shows the world the big strides our sport has taken in recent years," Ebrahim Abdul Malek, the NOC Secretary General, told the general assembly...