Sheikh Joaan: The Medals Won by Qatar at Tokyo 2020 Will Serve as Springboard for Qatari Sport

Doha, August 24 (QNA) - HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani underlined that the historic accomplishment achieved by the State of Qatar at the 32nd Summer Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020) of winning two gold medals and one bronze was the fruit of the great support which the Qatari sport enjoys by HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. In an interview with local media, HE the QOC President said that a total of 15 athletes have proudly represented Qatar in seven sports at the Olympic Games Tokyo including athletics, weightlifting, beach volleyball, judo, swimming, shooting and rowing. Tokyo 2020 campaign was the best in the history of Qatari sport as Qatar claimed two gold medals for the very first time when Fares Ibrahim won a gold medal in Weightlifting (96kg category) and Mutaz Barshim took the high jump gold medal. Qatar's beach volleyball duo also clinched the bronze medal which was the first Arabic medal in team events. Thanks to its three medals, the State of Qatar ranked first at the Arab level and took the 41st place in the overall standings. HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani underlined that the goal of Qatar's participation in Tokyo 2020 was not limited to winning medals, but also included developing the skills of the promising champions and building a new generation of Qatari athletes and teams. HE noted that the support of HH the Amir to Qatari sport is a driving force behind this achievement. It is also a result of many years of planning and effort, even before he assumed the presidency of the QOC. HE the QOC President noted that after the Olympic Games Rio 2016, QOC began evaluating Qatars participation in that Games and developed its strategic plan for 2017-2022 which is based on three main pillars, including: increasing community participation in sport, reviving the Olympic values and ensuring sporting excellence at both local and international levels. In this regard, HE praised the efforts of the QOC Secretariat-General in implementing the plans and programs, as well as the contributions of Team Qatar's administrative delegation during the Games who left no stone unturned to provide the Qatari athletes with an ideal environment. HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani also appreciated the tireless work and sacrifices that the Qatari athletes have shown in their preparations, discipline and achievements, to honor the Qatari sport in the largest sports forum in the world. HE noted that before the 2020 Games, the aim was to write a new chapter in the history of Qatari sport by winning a gold medal after winning five medals (one silver medal and four bronze medals) during the previous editions. The goal was achieved when Fares Ibrahim claimed the weightlifting gold medal which was followed by Mutaz Barshims gold medal in the high jump. After this, the attention was turned to Qatar's beach volleyball team Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan who were a clear favorite for an Olympic medal, especially after topping the sports world ranking. The Qatari duo took the bronze medal, which was in fact the first Arab medal in team events. HE stressed that other Qatari athletes also demonstrated clear signs of improvement during the Games, adding: "we are certainly considering this edition of the Games as just the beginning of more achievements to come. With this medal tally, Qatar led all other Arab countries during the Games and took the 41st place in the overall standings." Speaking about Team Qatar's benefits from the participations in the Olympic games and their impact on Qatari sport, HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that Qatar's first Olympic Games appearance was in Los Angeles 1984, and it has been represented at every edition of the Games since. Mohamed Suleiman claimed Qatars first-ever bronze medal at the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 in the 1500m. At Sydney 2000, Said Saif Asaad clinched Qatars second Olympic medal when he took the bronze medal in the 105kg weightlifting event. Qatari sport continued to make great progress, and the development of sport in Qatar soon resulted in two bronze medals at London 2012. Qatars Nasser Al Attiyah claimed the bronze medal in the mens skeet event and Mutaz Barshim won the mens high jump bronze medal, taking Qatar to 76th place in the overall standings. HE the QOC President continued that in Rio 2016, Mutaz Barshim clinched Qatar's first silver medal as Qatar took the 69th place in the medal table, while in the last edition of the Games in Tokyo, Qatar claimed two historic gold medals and a bronze medal to occupy the 41st place in the overall standings. "Looking at these statistics, Qatar's participation in the Olympic Games is witnessing a significant increase in the tally of medals and gradual progress in the ranking we occupy. Moreover, the last editions of the Games featured the emergence of some promising stars thanks to the planning and the huge efforts made by the former leadership of Qatari sport and are complemented by its current leadership," HE Sheikh Joaan said. On the development of Paralympic sports in Qatar and its participation in the Paralympic Games which opened in Tokyo today, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said: "The State of Qatar has reaffirmed its great interest in Paralympic sports and the Qatar Paralympic Committee (QPC) is working hard to make us proud in upcoming events. This is aligned with Qatars commitment to being an open and accessible country for all." He noted that Qatar made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1996 Summer Paralympic Games in Atlanta. During the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Qatar won two medals when Abdulrahman Abdulqader and Sara Masoud claimed silver medals in the men's and women's shotput events. Abdulrahman Abdulqader also claimed the gold medal at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships while Sara clinched the silver medal in the same event. "These two champions will represent Qatar at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, so I wish they can do us proud during this edition of the Games. We have also developed a detailed plan to build new generations of Paralympic champions in cooperation with the QPC," HE the QOC President added. Answering a question about women sport journey in Qatar, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that Qatari women were performing sports at schools in the past as there was not an entity taking charge of their sport tournaments until the first ever woman sport committee was founded. In 2000, HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser established the Qatar Womens Sport Committee as one of the entities affiliated to the Supreme Council for Family Affairs. In 2001, the Committee joined the Qatar Olympic Committee by a decision from HH the Amir, who was then the President of the QOC, to increase womens participation base and elevate their international participation to new heights. HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani underlined that Qatar Olympic Committee believes in equality between men and women in sport and it is the QOCs long term strategy which will help Qatari women enjoy full rights to practice sports. Qatari womens debut sport appearance was at the 14th Asian Games in Busan, where they showed great performances and results. Qatari women kept their successful sport run going in the Algeria Arab Games 2004 where they won a number of medals. Two years later, they claimed a number of medals at the Doha 2006 Asian Games. Most notably, Qatars women handball team claimed the gold medal in the West Asian Games 2016. Also, Qatari woman raised up the scale of challenges to bring glorious achievements in table tennis, basketball, handball, the latest of them was at the GCC Games held in Kuwait. "At the Olympic Games level, Qatari women's debut appearance was at the Olympic Games London where we fielded four athletes and Qatars shooter, Bahiya Al Hamad, was the countys flag bearer at the Games. Two Qatari women competed in the rowing and athletics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 where Tala Abujbara qualified and set a new personal record. Constant follow-up of the Qatar women sport activities is going ahead as per the QOC strategy," HE the QOC President said. Speaking about the long-term plans to prepare Olympic champions to follow the steps of Mutaz Barshim and Fares Ibrahim and win medals in the future, HE QOC President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that the three medals that Qatar won in Tokyo will be a new starting point for the Qatar sport movement, noting that preparing new Olympic champions needs a big effort and promising talents with the skills to reach international standards and compete in the Olympic Games. "We have promising talents and staff in more than one sport, and we are sparing no effort to work cooperatively with the sport federations and Aspire Academy to develop the skills of talented age groups in order to reach similar levels of Mutaz and Fares. We will leave no stone unturned to see other Qatari athletes stepping onto podiums at the next Olympic Games. We know it is not an easy task, but with determination we will make success possible," HE the QOC President stressed. "We turned the Tokyo page and started evaluating Qatars administrative and managerial participation in the Games in our quest to help secure more success and bring greater achievement to Team Qatar. As usual, after any participation in multi-sport games, we assess the level of participation from all perspectives in order to develop positive aspects and solve any negatives (if found). Everyone is responsible for their tasks, and I am also responsible for any defect. Together we shall keep working hard to achieve the QOCs message and vision as per its strategy," HE added. "To make this strategy effective, the QOC has started working tirelessly on its strategy of national teams for the 2030 Asian Games. We are building a strategic frame, setting systematic executive plans to develop the athletes performances, improve their personal care, meeting their needs, caring about their educational, professional and health career, as well as following-up on their performance appraisal day by day to ensure that the objectives are met and major outcomes were reached," HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said. On the IOC announcement of naming Doha as a vital center of COVID-19 vaccination services before Tokyo Olympics, HE said that the initiative was positively received by other National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The QOC arranged with local authorities like Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Public Health and Hamad International Airport along with international coordination with the IOC and Pfizer corporation. "Were truly proud to appreciate this amazing cooperation with these authorities, we succeeded to provide vaccination to a number of international athletes, after arriving at Hamad International Airport and holding a short-term training camp in Doha," HE said. On the partnership between the QOC and Olympic Refuge Foundation, and Doha being a host city to the training camp of the refugees Olympic team ahead of their departure to Tokyo, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-thani said: "QOC is a founding partner of the Olympic Refuge Foundation and we are keen to provide refugees with an opportunity to engage with sport. This initiative came from HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, to name Doha as the host city to 29 members of the Refugee Olympic Team who ultimately competed in 12 sports at Tokyo 2020. During a three day training camp held at Aspire Zone, those athletes had a workshop on the Olympic Games which was also attended by a number of IOC officials. This training camp was scheduled last year but it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic." "This was the second participation of the Refugee Olympic Team in the Olympic Games as their debut appearance was at Rio 2016. We are truly proud of their impressive performances at Tokyo 2020, they made great performances in athletics, wrestling and other sports. We will keep providing our contributions to the Olympic Refuge Foundation in every possible way. We truly believe in the empowering role sport can play, especially in these challenging times," HE added. Answering a question about what Qatar can bring to Asia through hosting the 2030 Asian Games for second time after the 2006 version, HE QOC President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that the 2006 Asian Games were a turning point in the history of the Qatar sport movement. It was also a significant turn in the Asian sport landscape, and was praised by many for its world-class technical and organizational level. "We hosted the 2006 Asian Games that produced a lot of talent and administrative staff who are now a key element in the development of Qatar today. Our legacy from the 2006 Asian Games played a crucial role in the progress of the country, which meets with the Qatar 2030 national vision," HE said. "Our self-confidence was the driving force behind our desire to host the 2030 Asian Games, because all factors and elements of success we need are available to help up organize an exceptional Games. We have world-class infrastructure, sport facilities, sport venues and highly-motivated administrative staff ready to host one of the biggest sports events in the world," HE stressed. "Dohas bid won the right to host the 2030 Asian Games after a tough competition with our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia, and this win proved Asias confidence in Qatars organizational assets. The Doha 2006 Asian Games bid impressed not only Asia, but the whole world. Im confident that the 2030 Asian Games will be a better, greater and more memorable event than ever before," HE continued. "Now, we are moving forward and ready to organize an exceptional continental event, we have the infrastructure, the accumulated experience, the sports venues, roads and metro networks and Hamad International Airport (HIA), which includes our world leading national carrier, Qatar Airways with its vital flights that link the country with the whole world. Our advanced and sustainable city also has world class plans for the Athletes Village. When we say Doha is Games ready, we truly mean it," HE the QOC President said. On Qatar's hosting of major sports event despite the COVID-19 pandemic the caused the cancellation and postponement of a lot of sport events, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that COVID-19 created significant challenges worldwide and affected a lot of sectors, including the sport sector, and it resulted in the cancellation of a lot of tournaments across the world. Amid this unprecedented pandemic, Qatar has constantly proved it is a capital of global sport as it hosted a lot of tournaments. This included the FIFA Club World Cup, AFC Champions league, Diamond League Doha, in addition to a number of continental and international tournaments being organized with effective countermeasures to keep participants safe. "On this occasion, I would like to thank the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management and the Ministry of Public Health for their cooperative effort with us as we hosted these tournaments. We are so proud to have these motivated and qualified officials able to deal with the toughest of challenges and obstacles they face." In conclusion, HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani said that Qatar Olympic Committee in its cooperation with the sport federations developed a number of plans to keep the necessary programs running for clubs and national teams during that period. The QOCs work pace went on uninterrupted as per the conditions and preventive measures taken to provide safety for all. Qatar is one of the countries that turned the corner to beat the pandemic. (QNA)