Abu Dhabi: UAE’s Hamda Ali Al Hosani clinched gold in the 200m F26 final with a time of 32.14 seconds at the Special Olympics World Games at the Shaikh Hamdan Complex in Dubai on Saturday.
The silver went to Canada’s Eva Louise Bell, who clocked 34.81 seconds while the bronze was bagged by Hamda’s countrymade Momena Shridal, who finished with a time of 36.42 seconds.
Hamda was always the firm favourite going into the race as she has won several laurels for the UAE around the globe before as well.
Last year at the Mena Special Olympic Games, Hamda had clinched gold in the 100m after settling for silver against Bahrain’s Aysha Al Subei in the 200m.
“I want to change the perception of the people towards us. Hopefully, laurels like these can inspire many special needs kids. We have to ensure that there is space and plenty of love and care for the special children.
“We all have to work towards that. Giving confidence and support is the least that one can do to start with,” Hamda had said in a previous interview with Gulf News and here she was again leading from the front.
UAE’s Saif Jassom Al Baloushi clinched gold in the Roller Skating MX01 at the ADNEC on Saturday with a time of 14.06 seconds on Saturday.
Finishing second was Ruiya Al Habsi of Oman, who clocked 15.71 seconds while Algeria’s Chafik Chafai was third with a time of 17.25 seconds.
A brace of goals by Abdullah Peerak saw UAE men’s unified 11-a-side football team end the group stage on a winning note beating Jamaica 4-1 at the Zayed Sports City.
Ali Mahrouqi opened the scoring in the 27th minute before Mohammad Al Maamari doubled the lead three minutes later.
Peerak then fired two back-to-back goals to put the UAE 4-0 up before Shawn Beckford scored a consolation goal in the 60th minute for Jamaica.
The UAE had earlier beaten South Africa and with this win, they have made it to the group stages starting today.
British cycling star Kiera Byland won a gold medal for Team GB on her debut race at Special Olympics World Games.
The 20-year-old athlete was first across the finish line in the women’s 15km Road Race Final held at Yas Marina Circuit. Kiera, who comes from the north-west of England, saw off competition from Germany’s Heike Naujoks and Spain’s Elena Hernandez to seal the victory with a time of 24 minutes and 24 seconds.
“I said to my teammates ‘I hope I do really well in my first race’ and then, obviously, I’ve done really good. I just hope I can continue this in my other races because I’ve done all the training and put the effort in with help from my coach and my family,” said a jubilant Kiera.
