The Qatar flag will be raised at the Beijing Olympic Games Athletes Village on August 6, it was announced yesterday.
The Olympic Games will be held in the Chinese capital from August 8 to 24 and the Qatari delegation to the Games will be officially received at the Village on August 7. This was announced by Khalid Al Jaber, Chef De Mission, before leaving for Beijing, yesterday.
Seeking their first ever gold medal at an Olympic Games, Qatar’s squad of 22 athletes will take part in track and field, swimming, shooting, weightlifting, fencing, archery and taekwondo competitions.
Qatar are taking part in the Olympic Games for the seventh time and in the last edition of the Games in Athens, Qatar sent 16 athletes. Qatar's only two Olympic Games medals came in Barcelona (1992) and Sydney (2000).
Qatar's list of 14 athletes in track and field events includes Samuel Francis (100m), Mohammed Issa (110m hurdles), Felix Kikawi, Jamal Bilal, Sultan Khamis and James Kowalia (5,000m), Yousif Othman and Mubarak Hassan (marathon), Abubaker Ali and Zakaria Kamil (3,000m), Rashid Shafi (discuss throw), Daham Najm (1,500m), Ibrahim Babikir Mohammedain (triple jump), Ahmed Hassan Abdullah and Issa Ismaeel Rashid (10,000m).
Qatar's best hopes for medals are 21-year-old Francis and Saleh Al Attiyah. Francis is the fastest man in Asia with his record time of 9.99 seconds.
Shooter Saleh, who remains Qatar's favourite sports personality, will take part in the Olympic Games for third time after competing in 1996 Atlanta and 2004 Athens Games.
Qatar's Khalid Issa will represent the country in fencing while Abdulgadir Hikmat will take part in Taekwondo. Osama Al Araj is the only swimmer while Ali Yazidi is set to take part in archery contests. Weightlifter Jaber Saad is set to compete in 150kg contest.
The Pen
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