UAE mission achieves promising results in Paris Olympics

Minister of Sports, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Executive Office, Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, stressed that the country’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics represented a positive milestone on the road to achieving national targets in the sports sector, as the number of Emirati athletes participating in the competitions increased from five athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to 14 in the Paris 2024 Olympics, making the UAE delegation among the largest in the GCC countries, which is in line with the strategic goal of qualifying more than 30 athletes for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

He praised the efforts of the UAE’s heroes, both male and female, and their commitment and keenness to present an honourable image of the country through fair sporting competition with their counterparts from all over the world during this global event.

This came during his meeting with members of the UAE mission after the conclusion of the Olympics, which were held from July 26 to August 11.

Dr. Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi pointed out that “the UAE delegation achieved promising results in the Olympics, as the country’s male and female champions participating in the competitions succeeded in breaking their personal and national records, and improving their international rankings in many sports, despite the young age of most of the delegation members. The qualification of the national cycling team player, Safia Al Sayegh, along with her Algerian colleague, for the cycling competitions in the Olympics was the first of its kind at the Arab level, since women’s cycling joined the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984, which is something that can be built upon to increase the base of competitive practice for this sport, which will contribute to achieving better results in upcoming tournaments.”

He stressed the importance of the role of school sports in highlighting promising sports talents capable of competing at the Olympic level, pointing out that the country’s delegation to the Paris Olympics included the emerging swimmer Maha Al Shehhi, whose talent emerged in the school games competitions, which qualified her to compete in the Olympics and break her personal record during the competitions.

He said: “I thank all the UAE players, both male and female, for their efforts during the competitions. I also thank all the sports federations, sports councils and clubs that contributed to sponsoring and supporting these talents. I am confident that the joint work and coordination between the Ministry of Sports and these institutions, according to the established strategies, will contribute to graduating more promising talents in a number of games to compete under the UAE flag in upcoming tournaments.”

The UAE delegation to the Paris Olympics included 14 male and female players in five games: Abdullah Al Marri, Omar Al Marzouqi, Ali Al Karbi and Salem Al Suwaidi in equestrian; Narmand Bayan, Talal Shafili, Aram Grigoryan, Zafer Aram, Omar Marouf and Basheerat Kharroudi in judo; Safia Al Sayegh in cycling and road racing; Yousef Al Matrooshi and Maha Al Shehhi in swimming; and Maryam Al Farsi in athletics.

Al Falasi explained: “The National Sports Strategy 2031, which was launched last year, has set a roadmap to advance Emirati sports and enhance its global presence according to a clear and well-studied methodology that focuses on developing the capabilities of sports talents to enable them to succeed at the elite level. We at the Ministry of Sports will be keen to work with all federations and relevant entities through the Elite Committee to support and nurture emerging talents to enable them to compete at the highest levels. We are confident that our upcoming Olympic participation will be larger in size and better in terms of results.”

“With the conclusion of the Paris Olympics, attention is now turning to the Paralympic Games, which will kick off on August 28, where the country is participating with a delegation of 14 male and female athletes competing in five games: athletics, cycling, judo, shooting and weightlifting. We look forward to the UAE champions being up to the task and achieving positive results that will satisfy our ambitions during these competitions,” he added.

The National Sports Strategy 2031 aims to increase the percentage of sports practiced in society to reach 71% of the population, increase the number of those qualified for the Olympic Games to more than 30 players, and increase the contribution of sports to the GDP to 0.5% by 2031.

Closing ceremony

The day before yesterday, Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi witnessed the closing ceremony of the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, hosted by the French capital with the participation of 10,500 athletes from 200 National Olympic Committees competing in 32 sports through 329 competitions. The competitions were held in 35 sports facilities, and the UAE participated with 14 male and female athletes who competed in 5 different games: equestrian, judo, athletics, cycling, and swimming.

The ceremony, which lasted for about three hours, witnessed the UAE flag being flown as part of the flag campaign of the participating countries.

• Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi: Safia Al Sayegh’s qualification for the women’s cycling competition is the first for an Arab female competitor since the game was included in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984.

• Joint work and coordination between the Ministry of Sports, sports federations, sports councils and clubs is the way to continue to advance the sports system in the country.