A t a ceremony in Beijing to unveil the squad of 639 athletes, 2.26 metre tall basketball star, Yao,Ming reigning 110 metre Olympic champion Liu Xiang and dozens of others vowed in unison to do the nation of 1.3 billion people proud.
  China is fielding by far the largest squad in the  29th Olympiad but numbers are not everything.
Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum to Defend His Title
On 16 August, United Arab Emirates’ marksman Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum narrowly missed winning the bronze medal in the men’s trap shooting final in Athens. In the final round,  the results of the six finalists were agonisingly close in  the final round and there was little to choose between  them.
The following day, Al Maktoum, competed in the men’s double trap and this time he was victorious.
Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s royal family, became  the  first  athlete  from  the  UAE  to  win  an  Olympic medal of any colour with a superb display of shooting in the windy conditions at the Markopoulo Shooting Centre.
 
The 40-year-old US-educated marksman won with a score of 189 points, kissing both barrels of his shotgun after  sealing  gold  ahead  of  India’s  Rajyavardhan  Rathore with the silver and Wang Zheng of China, who  took the bronze. The gold medallist’s score tied with
Australia’s Mark Russell’s record at the Atlanta Games  in 1996.

Born on 31 December, 1963, Al Maktoum graduated from Western State University, Phoenix, Arizona with a  degree in business administration.

A bachelor, he was the UAE national squash champion from 1985 to 2000.
Enjoying all types of shooting, which he states is very much a family tradition, he began his training as a marksman in 1998. “

I enjoy the challenge of an event  which is almost impossible to perfect.”
Al  Maktoum  has  been  coached  by  Rafael  Mukhamediarov of Uzbekistan since 1999, practising every morning and evening, seven days a week for years.
“My  faith  in  God  helps  me,  as  well  as  reminding  myself to stay focussed on the job I’ve come to do.”
Al Maktoum arrived in Beijing on 27 July for his bid to defend his title. He was received at the airport by UAE ambassador to China, Mohammed Rashid Al Bout.
  “We are truly proud to see our golden shooter  full  of  determination  to  fly  the  flag  of  his  country  for  the second time in this international extravaganza,” Al Bout said.
“We are also pleased to contribute to the success of  the Olympiad which is hosted by one of our important friends in the international community. Sport is a vital  field  for  the  development  of  strong  and  good 
relationships between nations,” he added. Having competed in Sydney and Athens, Sheikh
Saeed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum will be competing for 
the third time in the Olympics skeet shooting event. Karate princess, Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum is representing the UAE in Beijing.
Her  participation  was  cleared  by  the  International  Olympic  Committee  (IOC)  based  on  a  quota  for  athletes with an extraordinary record in their sporting discipline; Sheikha Maitha has been cleared to participate in taekwondo in the 67kgs category for women. Karate is not an Olympic sport.
Sheikha Maitha has been training in Dubai and a couple of camps in China and Korea before proceeding for the opening ceremony on 8 August, where she will be the flag-bearer for the UAE prior to  her competition that starts on 20 August.
Earlier this year, in 2008, she was included in the list of the “20 Hottest Young Royals” by Forbes Magazine.
Eight UAE male and female athletes are taking part in the Beijing Olympics, the country’s largest-ever showing at the event.
UAE Olympic Team:

• Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum will defend his title in double trap 56 Sports and Fitness/August 2008
• Sheikh  Saeed  Bin  Rashid  Al  Maktoum  -  skeet shooting
• Sheikha  Maitha  Bint  Mohammad  Bin  Rashid  Al  Maktoum - under 67kgs taekwondo
•  Obaid Al Jasmi was awarded a wildcard in swimming and will compete in the 100 metres freestyle
•  Adil Khalid - Sailing Laser class.
•  18-year-old judoka, Saeed Al Qubaisi was awarded a wildcard
• Ali Obaid Sherook -400 metres and 400 metres hurdles
•  Omar Jumaa Bilal - 100 and 200 metres

A Last Minute Reprieve For Iraq Olympic team 
Iraq’s  Olympic  team  will  now  attend  the  Beijing  games following the IOC’s last minute decision to lift  the ban on the country’s Olympic association.
The  International  Olympic  Committee  made  the  decision  on  Wednesday,  30  July  when  the  Iraqi  delegation agreed to hold elections on the country’s national Olympic committee under international observation.
“We want to have real representation for the Iraqi  teams  and  the  Iraqi  supporters,”  Iraqi  government  spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh told reporters on Tuesday.
The IOC placed the ban in May for what it called  political interference in the country’s Olympic committee, which the government had previously dissolved over corruption allegations.
Iraq’s  Olympic  contingent  were  cleared  to  take  part in the 2008 Games after agreement was reached  between the IOC and the Iraqi government at a crisis  meeting at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne. 
As  the  deadline  for  competitors  at  the  Games  for  all events except athletics passed on 23 July the Iraqi  contingent will now number only two athletes.
The original team was comprised of two rowers, an archer, a weightlifter, a judoka, a discus thrower and a sprinter. Now sprinter Dana Hussein Abdul Razzaq and  Haidar Nasir, a discus thrower will be the Iraqi team but  they will take part in the Games as wildcard entrants  under a system to ensure that all eligible countries are represented at the Olympics.
The  lifting  of  the  ban  came  about  after  the  Iraqi  government agreed on a series of steps leading to a fully functioning independent National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Iraq. 
IOC President Jacques Rogge hailed the 11th hour  deal, saying: “We look forward to seeing the Iraqi flag  in Beijing.”
The  Olympic  chief  added:  “I  commend  the  government of Iraq for reaching an agreement that  serves the long-term interest of Iraqi athletes. 
Now, under the deal brokered on Tuesday, rather
than  being  frustrated  observers  Iraqi  athletes  will  compete in Beijing under the Iraqi flag, led by coaches  and team leaders selected by the independent Iraqi 
NOC.
The  IOC  last  suspended  Iraq  in  May  2003  when  it  learned of the abuse of athletes by Saddam Hussein’s son Uday, the country’s former Olympic chief.
Sports and Fitness/August 2008 57

THE ARAB DELEGATIONS
Iraqi Olympic Team:
•  Dana Hussein Abdul Razzaq- sprinter
•  Haidar Nasir – discus thrower

Considering  the  sacrifices  the  Iraqi  athletes  have  made to train, often far from their war torn country and the risks they have, it is very sad that the full team are unable to compete.
Five Saudi National Teams to Compete In Beijing
Five national teams that met qualifying standards for the Olympics: Equestrian, athletics, shooting, swimming and weightlifting.
 
Prince Abdullah ibn Miteb will be leading the seven¬man  equestrian  team  that  qualified  for  the  show  jumping event. Joining the prince are veteran riders Kamal  Bahamdan,  Ramzi  Al  Duhami,  Prince  Faisal  Al-Shallan, Adnan Al Baytouni, Fahad Al Eid and Abdullah Al Sharbatly. Weightlifting has two spots for  the Olympic team and the final line-up will be decided  at a later date.
 
Bader Al Muhana from the swimming team qualified 
as did Saeed Al Mutairi from the shooting squad.
Prince  Nawaf  ibn  Faisal,  deputy-president  of  the  General Presidency of Youth Welfare, is the Kingdom’s  head of delegation. Saudi Olympic Committee Secretary-General  Rashed  Al-Heraiwel  said  the  committee had created sub-committees to supervise the preparations for the Olympics. The athletes too, he added, are being provided with qualified coaches  to sharpen their skills and give it their best shot for the kingdom.
In  the  28-year  history  of  the  kingdom’s  Olympic 
participation, the country managed to win two
medals in the 2000 Sydney Games courtesy of 32-year 
old hurdler Hadi Souan, who delivered the silver in the 400 metre hurdles in 47.53 seconds, and veteran equestrian Khalid Al Eid, 39, who won the bronze medal with his horse Khashm Al-Aan.
Saudi Olympic Team:
•  Prince Abdullah ibn Miteb – Show Jumping
•  Prince Faisal Al-Shallan – Show Jumping
•  Kamal Bahamdan – Show Jumping
•  Ramzi Al Duhami – Show Jumping

58 Sports and Fitness/August 2008

•  Adnan Al Baytouni – Show Jumping
• Fahad Al Eid – Show Jumping
•  Abdullah Al Sharbatly – Show Jumping
•  Bader Al Muhana – Swimming
•  Saeed Al Mutairi – Shooting
•  Two weightlifters

Seven Jordanian Athletes at Olympics
“The  Olympic  Games  is  the  pinnacle  of  any  sportsman or woman’s career and I would like to wish  our athletes all the best with their final preparations for  Beijing,” HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, president of the  JOC, said in the statement.
“The Olympic Games serve as a bridge of friendship  among people from around the world and the Beijing Olympics will promote understanding among them and spread friendship among all participants,” the Prince said. 
Jordanian Olympic Team:
Zeina Shaban - Table tennis Razan Fareed – Swimming
Anas Hamoudeh – Swimming Khalil Hanahneh – 100 and 200 metres sprinter Bara’ Marwan – Cross Country Nadeen Dwani – Taekwondo
Ibrahim Bisharat – Equestrian
Among the seven, Dwani, Shaban, Bisharat and
Hanahneh attended the Athens Games in 2004 while 
the rest will be making their Olympic debuts.
Two Women and Four Men from Lebanon
The team is comprised of two women and four men. Swimmer Nibal Yamout will compete in the 50 metre breaststroke  while  Gretta  Teslakian  will  run  the  200 
metres. The male contingent of the Lebanese team includes
Wael Kobrosli, Lebanon’s national swimming champion, 
who will compete in the breaststroke competition and
the 100 metre event. Rudi Hashash will compete in the 
100 kilogramme open Judo category, Mohamad Siraj
Tamim Mushoo in Kung Fu and Ziad Richa in shooting.
Teslakian, a 22-year old runner is participating in her
second  Olympic  Games,  but  the  others  are  making 
their Olympic debut.
Lebanese athletes have medalled four times in previous Olympic competitions and although they hope the number will increase in Beijing, the competitors have faced many obstacles that are unique to their country.
The political instability in Lebanon over the past few years has wrought havoc on the competitors’ training schedules and they also lack facilities.
“Somehow we feel down because we feel we can do more, but there is a lack of training,” Teslakian said.
Kobrosli explained how the violence in May disrupted his training. “I was out of the water for two weeks,” he  said.  “Two  weeks  for  a  swimmer  is  everything.  I  had  to train twice as hard to make up for the lost time,” Kobrosli added.
The Olympics will offer a chance for individuals and nations to show the world who they are, the athletes said.
“These athletes are not just competitors but ambassadors of Lebanon,” Ezzat Kraytem, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Olympic committee, said.
“We are sending them to tell the world that Lebanon  is back on track, we have a new government, we have a new president, and things are excellent,” Kraytem added.
Lebanese Olympic Team:
•  Nibal Yamout – 50 metres breaststroke
•  Gretta Teslakian - 200 metres
•  Wael Kobrosli - 100 metres breaststroke
•  Rudi Hashash – 100 kilo judo
•  Mohamad Siraj Tamim – Martial Arts
•  Ziad Richa - Shooting

High Hopes from the Sultanate of Oman
The  journey  of  the  Olympic  Torch  crossed  five  continents passing through 21 countries and travelling a total distance of 97,000 kilometres. Muscat was chosen to be on the 2008 Olympic Torch relay map, making it the only Middle Eastern capital amongst international  cities  to  host  the  relay.  It was  a thrilling  precursor to the Games
Oman made its first Olympic appearance in 1984 an  is now expecting to end its Olympic medal drought in  the  Beijing  Games  this  summer,  the  country’s  top  sports official Ali Masoud Ali Al Sunaidy said. 
Oman,  a  participant  in  the  Olympic  Games  since  1984,  has  not  won  a  medal  in  the  Olympic  Games,  Al-Sunaidy, minister of sports affairs and chairman of Oman Olympic Committee, continued but Oman hopes to expand its participation in the Olympic Games though the number of athletes of the country  is limited.
Sports and Fitness/August 2008 59
 

THE ARAB DELEGATIONS

“Our  policy  is  to  be  strong  enough  regionally  first,  and now we have started looking at Asia. Once we have stabilized our participation at the Asian level, we think we can grow to the Olympic level,” he said.
Oman Olympic Team Includes:
•  Mohammed Al-Habsi,- Swimming
•  Allah Dad Al Balushi - Shooting

A Record Number of 15 Athletes for the Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrain’s athletes are determined to make their
country  proud  in  Beijing.  “We  have  never  won  an 
Olympic medal, but this time we have some of the world’s best athletes; we expect them to win, just as how they expect that of themselves,” Bahrain Athletics Association president Sheikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said.
Six runners represented Bahrain in Athens but the delegation for China has 10 participants for track and field alone, which marks a record number for the  kingdom’s team since it made its Olympics debut in Los Angeles in 1984.
“We want to win, and there is definitely pressure on  everyone, not just the athletes but on the association as well,” said Sheikh Talal, who is also the Bahrain Olympic Committee  secretary-general.  “We  overcome  that  pressure by working as a team; winning is a team responsibility in Bahrain athletics.
“As an association, what we must do is provide the best possible environment for our athletes to prepare for the Olympics. In order for them to be successful, 
AFP
 
they must train well and be completely prepared.
“In truth, the number of athletes we have qualified  for this year’s Olympics is already a great achievement in itself.
“It is very hard to predict any outcomes, but we are 
hoping for the best and we are hoping that winning
our first medal will happen.”

Bahraini Olympic Team:
•  Maryam Yusuf Jamal - 1500 metres
•  Ruqaya Al Ghasra - 200 metres
•  Nadia Ejjafini - Marathon
•  Rashid Ramzi - 1500 and 5000 metres 
•  Youssef Saad Kamel – 800 metres
•  Belal Mansoor Ali – 800 and 1500 metres
•  Tareq Mubarak Taher -3000 metre steeplechase
•  Adam Ismaeel Khamis – 5000 metres
•  Hassan Mahboob - 5000 and 10000 metres
•  Yaseen Khalid Kamal – Marathon
•  Reyadh Mustafa - Marathon
•  Stephen Kamara – Marathon
•  Abdulhak Zakariya - Marathon
•  Sameera Al Bitar – Swimming
•  Omar Yousef Jassim - Swimming

A Record 22 Athletes for Qatar
Qatar  Olympic  Committee  Secretary  General,  HE  Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani anticipates the huge Qatar delegation to 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will reflect Qatar’s sports development. 

“Qatar’s unprecedented level of participation in
Beijing  reflects  the  development  of  sport  in  recent 
years. Of course without the continuous support of country’s wise leaders these developments wouldn’t have been possible.
“We aim to achieve best results in the Games and  our athletes are in high spirits and are incredibly determined to perform to the best of their ability, reaching new heights, and standing at the coronation podiums,” His Excellency said.

Qatar  has  fielded  22  athletes  for  the  Olympic  Games  who  will  compete  in  track  and  field  events,  swimming, shooting, weightlifting, fencing, archery and taekwondo.
Qatar’s archer Ali Ahmed Al Yazidi was chosen to represent Qatar in the country’s first ever participation  in Olympic archery.  In addition to archery, Qatar will  compete for the first time in taekwondo and fencing  in the Olympic Games.  
Qatar has participated in a limited number of sports
in previous Olympic Games, but its participation rate 
has grown to seven different events in 2008.
In the 1984 Los Angles Olympic Games, Qatar took 
part in shooting, football and athletics; in the 1988
Seoul Games, Qatar competed only in athletics; in the  1992 Barcelona Games, Qatar competed in athletics  and  football;  in  the  1996  Atlanta  Games,  Qatar  competed in volleyball, shooting and athletics; in the 2000 Sydney Games, Qatar competed in weightlifting,  swimming, athletics, volleyball, and shooting; and in the 2004 Athens Games, Qatar competed in shooting,  athletics, weightlifting, swimming and wrestling. Qatar’s participation in fencing at the upcoming
Beijing  games  by  ace  foilist  Khalid  Issa  Al  Hamadi 
(who was already selected by QOC as best fencer
for the 2007 – 2008 seasons reflects the overwhelming 
progress in fencing as a new sport in Qatar.
Widely recognized as the country’s best taekwondo  martial artist for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Qatar’s Abdulgadir Hikmat will compete in Beijing’s taekwondo event.
Qatar’s Chef de Mission to Beijing Olympic Games  2008,  Khalil  Ibrahim  Al  Jaber,  expressed  happiness  over the size of Qatar’s participation in the games and  confirmed  that  all  arrangements  had  been  made to receive the Qatari official delegation, which  includes high–ranking officials, administrative staff and  athletes.
Qatar Olympic Team:
Abdulkadir Hikmat Abdulkadir Sarhan - Taekwondo Ahmed Hassan Abdullah – 10000 metres Abubaker Ali Kamal - 3000 metres
Jaber Saeed Salem - Weightlifting
Daham Najim Bashir - 1500 metres Osama Mohammed Al Araj -100 and 200 metres swimming Felix Kikwai Kibore - Marathon
Ibrahim Babakir Mohammedain - Triple Jump Issa Ismaeel Rashid – 10000 metres
Jamal Bilal Salim – 5000 metres
Khalid Issa Al Hamadi - Fencing Mohammed Issa Al Thawadi -110 m hurdles 
Mubarak Hassan Shami - Marathon James Kuwalia – 5000 metres Nasser Salih AL-Attiya - Shooting
Rashid Shafi Battal Al Dosari - Discus
Samuel Adelebari Francis - 100 metres
Sultan Khamis Zaman – 5000 metres
Zakaria Kamal – 3000 metres
 
Yousif Othman Qadir - Marathon
Rashid Salih Hamad – Skeet shooting
Ali Ahmed Salem – Archery
Eight Man Team for Kuwait

Three shooters will represent Kuwait in the country’s favoured sportin the Beijing Olympics, which is the sixth time that Kuwaiti shooters have participated in the Olympics since 1964.
Shooter, Fuhaid Al-Daihani was the first to claim an  Olympic medal for Kuwait when he won the bronze medal in the 27th Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. Abdullah  Al  Rashidi  qualified  for  the  Olympics 
after winning second place in the Dominican
championship,  while  Nasser  Al  Muqlid  and  Zaid  Al  Mutairi, qualified after their great performances  in the  Asian  championships  held  in  Kuwait,  and  the  World 
Shooting Cup held in Slovenia in 2007.
The Kuwaiti team’s efforts were highly supported by the Board Chairman of the Kuwaiti Shooting Club, Sheikh Salman Al Humoud Al Sabah.
Kuwait Olympic Team:
Talal Al Enezi was awarded a wildcard in 100 kg judo Abdullah Al Rashidi - Shooting  Zaid Al Mutairi - Shooting Nasser Al Muqlid – Shooting Mohammed Madwa - 50 and 100 metres Free Style Ibrahim Al Hassan – Table Tennis  Mohammed Al Azmi – Track and Field Ali Al Zankawi – Track and Field
Sports and Fitness/August 2008 61