Maitha wants to make UAE proud

Seoul: Just days before the official opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has pledged to make her country proud.

"I am honoured and excited to have been selected as a member of UAE Olympic team for the Beijing Olympiad and I will do my best to make my motherland proud," said Shaikha Maitha.

She will be competing in the 67kg category of the taekwondo event at the Games.

Shaikha Maitha is the daughter of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

She flew into Seoul over the weekend for the final leg of her Olympic preparations en route to Beijing.

The taekwondo competitor has already spent time in China at a training camp.

She was able to work and spar with the Chinese taekwondo squad ahead of the Games.

Accompanying Shaikha Maitha are the technical team members of the Zabeel Club including Sameer Jumaa, Moina Jadeed and Zeyad Hammad.

Flag carrier

The UAE national Olympic committee has already announced that Shaikha Maitha will carry the UAE flag at the opening ceremony of the games on Friday.

The decision to give the flag to her, was made in appreciation of Shaikha Maitha's achievements while representing the people of the UAE and the National Olympic Committee.

International champion Shaikha Maitha has won several medals in karate and taekwondo on Arab, regional and international levels.

She was questioned by local journalists in Seoul about how she felt to be taking part in an Olympic Games.

But Shaikha Maitha said she still could not find the words to express herself or describe her feelings when it came to the Olympics and being selected as a taekwondo candidate.

When asked by a reporter about how it felt to be carrying the hopes and aspirations of the people of the United Arab Emirates, she said she wanted to do as well as possible.

Shaikha Maitha added she hoped to pay back a small portion of the many beautiful things she has been given by her 'great father'. The UAE taekwondo competitor said: "My dream is to make it a golden success for my father and country."