Doha: London Games bronze medal winners Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Mutaz Essa Barshim are among the 34 athletes who will carry Qatar’s hopes of landing its first ever gold medal at the Rio Games while aiming to send a record number of female athletes.
With just 100 days to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) yesterday announced an initial line-up of athletes that have qualified to represent Team Qatar.
Qatar has won four Olympic bronze medals in total from the seven games they competed and hope to add to the tally.
The biggest hopes this time are high jumper Barshim, who won bronze in London and has already claimed his fourth Asian Indoor Athletics Championships this year at the age of just 24.
Another gold medal prospect is the handball team, which took silver at the world championships last year, losing out to France in the final.
Also going to Rio is Al Attiyah, a two-time Dakar Rally winner who won bronze at the men’s skeet, a shooting event, in 2012.
Qatar also aim to said more female athletes at this year’s Rio Games.
Four female athletes represented Qatar at London in 2012 and Dr. Thani Abdelrahman Al Kuwari, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee said the number will be more this year.
“I think the number will increase. This year we will have more than before. Women are now training to be leaders in athletics.”
London was the first Olympics in which Qatar sent female athletes to the Olympics.
With qualification in some events continuing, Qatar’s chef de mission to Rio, Mohammed Al Fadala, said two female athletes would definitely compete in Brazil and they were trying to finalise others.
“It could be more, there’s still some sports federations continuing qualification. We hope to get more athletes to go to Rio,” said Fadala. One women athlete who is definitely going as part of the Qatar team to Rio is swimmer Nada Arkaji, who competed at the Olympics four years ago.
“I think it is important to have more women to compete,” Arkaji, who will compete in the 100m butterfly, said.
“Qatari women are taking up more sports, not just swimming but other events,” she added.
The Peninsula
