Qatar will participate in the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics 2020, with 15 athletes eyeing glory at the planet’s biggest sports show to be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. Despite facing challenges in their preparations for the multi-sport event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Al Annabi stars are confident of giving a strong show against the world’s best opponents.
Qatar will field a strong contingent in track and field events where seven male athletes will be hoping to win medals. These include reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim, World Championships bronze medalist (400m hurdles) Abderrahman Samba, Abubaker Hayder, Abdirahman Saeed Hassan, Musab Adam, Femi Ogunode and Ashraf Amgad El Seify.
The other members of the Qatari contingent include Mohamed Al Rumaihi (shooting), Fares Ibrahim (weightlifting), Cherif Younouse, Ahmed Tijan (beach volleyball), Ayoub Al Idrisi (judo) and Abdulaziz Al Obaidly (swimming). Bashair Al Manwari (100m) and Tala Abujbara (rowing) will represent the Qatari women in Olympics.
This year’s Tokyo Olympics is posing a lot of challenges for the athletes and the officials due to the pandemic but Team Qatar athletes are focused on winning honours for the country in the mega event. Qatar have an impressive history in the Games which started with their maiden appearance at Los Angeles 1984. Mohamed Suleiman, who won a 1500m bronze medal at Barcelona 1992, was the first-ever Qatari Olympic medalist.
At Sydney 2000, Said Saif Asaad clinched Qatar’s second Olympic medal when he took the bronze medal in 105kg weightlifting. The London 2012 was the most successful Olympics for Qatar as the country claimed two medals there, with shooter Nasser Al Attiyah (skeet) and Barshim claiming the bronze medals. Barshim then went on to clinch country’s first silver medal at Rio 2016 becoming the first Qatari athlete to win two Olympic medals.
In Tokyo Olympics too, the gravity-defying Barshim will be one of the main hopes for Qatar along with Samba, former Asian champion Ogunode and Asian Games gold medalist El Seify.
Earlier this month, the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) launched its promotional campaign to support Team Qatar stars ahead of Tokyo 2020 under the theme of “We Are Team Qatar” - a phrase that represents the pride and unity of Team Qatar to unite the audience behind the team from all demographics.
The initiative has definitely motivated the athletes ahead of the tough challenge. Qatar have raised their performance in every Olympics and with all out support from the QOC and the respective federations, the national athletes are ready to shine in this edition of Olympics Games too. All the Best Team Qatar!
