Sport is about achievement. Be it a Usain Bolt clocking the fastest time or a Diego Maradona celebrating a goal. It's the mere intensity of a triumphant moment that seeks redemption and the sportsperson responds.
Recently, I had to go to the airport to receive possibly one of the more active sports officials in the UAE. Ahmad Al Kamali, President of the UAE Athletics Federation (UAEAF) was returning from Daegu, South Korea, after winning a seat on the powerful International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF).
Such a victory was never expected by anyone, except for the official concerned and his core team from the UAE. The hard work had been done over a considerable period of time, travelling around the world, meeting people who mattered and convincing National Olympic Committees to vote for a hitherto unknown member to the highest council in world amateur athletics.
Quite a tough task by any measure. But not so for Al Kamali — who also has the distinction of running the Dubai Marathon since its inception over a decade ago. "We just could not wait for all eternity for something to happen to athletics in the UAE and the region. We had to take some measures and we went ahead and did exactly that," Al Kamali beamed after his arrival from Daegu where he bagged the highest number of votes — even more than the well-known former athlete Frankie Fredericks.
"The margin of victory shows the amount of well-planned work that we put in while going for such a high-profile post," he had said. But all this success could mean nothing if we do not have the guile and direction to take individual sport to the next level in this region after having one of its own sons climb to such a high position in the IAAF. And knowing Al Kamali and his commitment in getting things done, we can be assured that the UAE will ultimately end up with something big: a Diamond League competition or even a World Athletics Championships in the near future.
It is just a matter of time. Something big will happen for UAE and Gulf athletics. Very soon, we may have a Bolt running closer to our homes.