Al Hammadi wins UAE’s third Paralympics medal

Dubai: The UAE rounded off the 2012 London Paralympics with a flourish when Mohammad Al Hammadi won the bronze medal in the men’s T34 100m at the Olympic Stadium on the penultimate day of the Games on Saturday.

Al Hammadi completed the distance in a time of 16.41 seconds to finish behind Tunisia’s Walid Ktila (15.91 seconds) and Australia’s Rheed McCracken (16.30 seconds) before a packed stadium of more than 80,000 fans.

This was Al Hammadi’s second medal of the Games and the third for the UAE, who finished the Paralympics with one medal of each colour.

Al Hammadi had last week bagged silver in the men’s 200m when again finishing behind Ktila, while Abdullah Sultan Al Aryani shot his way to the gold medal in the mixed R6-50m Rifle Prone event.

On Saturday, once again it was a slow start that proved to be Al Hammadi’s weak point as he struggled to keep pace with Ktila and McCracken. The athlete from Sharjah’s Al Thiqah Club tried his best to catch up, but had to finally settle for bronze.

“I tried my best. I was only looking at the gold, though I knew that Walid and Rheed were the ones to beat. I am happy with my achievements considering that this is the first time I have participated in a Paralympic Games,” Al Hammadi told Gulf News.

“I have seen first hand how these top athletes prepare for an important competition. After a few days’ rest I will start my preparatory programme for Rio 2016.”

Meanwhile, the UAE squad will touch down at Dubai International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday. Chairman of UAE Disabled Sports, Mohammad Fadhel Al Hameli, who is accompanying the squad in London, told Gulf News that it will be a proud moment for the athletes to land home after such a successful