UAE Para athlete Mohammed Othman targets gold at LA Games

Dubai: Promising UAE Para athlete Mohammed Youssef Othman is on a high. The 21-year-old was in the spotlight for claiming his first ever medal at a World Championships in New Delhi recently. In a thrilling men’s wheelchair T34 race, the Dubai Club for People of Determination trainee Othman settled for the bronze medal finishing behind Thailand’s Chaiwat Rattana and Rheed McCracken of Australia.

But Othman has his target clear, he wants to win his gold medal. “I trained hard for the World Championships, for five months outside the Emirates, and the result in the 100m race was good one, but my goal is to win the gold medal,” he said targeting the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Othman, at 20 years, was the youngest sportsman on the UAE’s team at Paris 2024 Paralympics where he finished fifth while he nearly missed the medal ending at fourth place at the last World Championships in Kobe, Japan. He was recently honoured for his achievement at the Dubai Club for People of Determination.

The medal was not just an indication of Othman’s rise but that UAE has got its new star in wheelchair races after Mohammed Hammadi, the multiple-time Paralympic medallist and three-time world champion.

Thani Juma Berregad, Chairman of the Club’s Executive Board, praised the great efforts made by the player and his coach in reaching the podium at such a major global event.

He also encouraged the player to multiply his efforts in future, which is of great importance in maintaining this achievement and accomplishing further successes.

Othman also affirmed that People of Determination are fully capable of shouldering the responsibility of raising the UAE flag at major international events.

His coach, Abdullah Al Mashrawi, praised Mohammed Othman’s ‘hard work and commitment’, noting that the achievement was the result of teamwork and a shared spirit of determination.

He added: “Mohammed Youssef is on the right path towards achieving even greater success, in line with the Club’s strategic vision”.