Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid participates in Marathon for all

Paris: Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid Al Thani, Director of the QOC Sports Sector participated in the “Marathon for all” event, held on the sidelines of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday. 

Qatar's Beach Volleyball Team Finish Fourth

Paris: Qatar’s hope of snatching a second medal on the penultimate day of the Paris Olympic Games  was dashed when Asia’s top beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan fell short of a victory in the bronze medal match at the Eiffel Tower Stadium last night. The Tokyo 2020 bronze  winners aimed to make back-to-back appearances on the Olympic podiums. However, it was the Norwegian team of Anders Mol and Christian Sorum who succeeded in winning a medal for a second consecutive time after a strong  2-0 (21-13, 21-16) victory over the Qatari duo. Mol and  Sorum, the gold medalists at the Tokyo Games, out-scored the Qatari duo in all elements in the encounter which lasted 36 minutes in front  of a packed venue. The second-seeded pair, Mol and Sorum served 4 aces against the Qatari duo while scoring seven block points against Qatar’s three.  Younousse and Tijan made four serve errors and 13 attack errors in contrast to  five by the Norwegian pair who made all the kill blocks in the match. The earlier half of the first set was a head-to-head battle  until Qatar held up through 9-9. However, Mol and Sorum took the lead scoring three points in a row, and extended the gap until the set was closed with an eight-point lead. In the second set, Younousse and Tijan  quickly recovered after a three-point deficit to level the score at 8-8. That too, however, wasn’t enough as their opponents broke away once again as Sorum scored the winning point to cap a memorable victory for Norway. The Qatari duo had enjoyed a strong run in the Olympic beach volleyball tournament, dominating the group stage and advancing to the semi-finals in which they went down to Swe-den’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig. Meanwhile, in the gold medal match which took place later at the same venue, the world No.1 pair of Ahman and Hellvig defeated Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler in straight sets  (21–10,  21–13) to win their country’s  first ever medal at Olympics in beach volleyball  

QOC President meets Chairperson of Organizing Committee for 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games

Paris: HE President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani met with Chairperson of the Organizing Committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games Casey Wasserman. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of development and cooperation at the sports level to enhance the Olympic movement. HE Secretary General of the QOC Jassim Rashid Al Buenain attended the meeting. 

Mutaz Barshim claims Paris 2024 Bronze Medal

Paris: Legendary Qatari athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim provided his nation with yet another medal at the Olympics as he claimed the men’s high jump bronze at the Paris 2024 Games on Saturday. It was the 33-year-old’s unprecedented fourth medal at successive Olympics since 2012. More importantly, this time his podium place ensured that Qatar was once again among the medals at the greatest sporting extravaganza on earth. Hamish Kerr of New Zealand beat American Shelby McEwan in a jump-off to give New Zealand a first ever Olympic high jump gold. It was a memorable Olympic swansong for Barshim, clearly Qatar’s greatest athlete who earlier won gold at Tokyo 2020 and silver at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Barshim also has three titles at the World Athletics Championships besides Asian Games gold and multiple other global medals to his name. In high jump he has been the second-most decorated athlete behind the world record holder Cuban Javier Sotomayor. Just prior to the Paris Olympics, Barshim had said, “It’s always easier said than done. How to stay dedicated – hard work, dedication and patience. And the better you are, the more difficult it gets because there is a lot of temptation… I don’t need to be jumping – you know, I can go out and do something easy, for example, and make the same amount of money. Or, I can go and do something, film something, and take my family on vacation. I don’t need to be struggling. “At this moment, in my career now, I’ve done so much. So, this Olympics to me is all about legacy.” And he indeed has left a legacy as an icon who will be followed as a role model by the new generations. At Stade de France, Barshim seemed to be in good stead as he began his participation with both elan and poise clearing 2.24, 2.27, 2.31, and 2.34 (his season’s best) heights on first attempts. Until then, it seemed the Qatari was well on his way to topping the event. But with the gauntlet thrown, USA’s Shelby McEwen then went for 2.36m and succeeded in his very first jump at that. Interestingly, McEwen too could not succeed any other jump after that. Barshim twice stumbled on 2.36 before raising the bar to 2.38m unsuccessfully. New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr eventually went on to beat McEwen in a jump-off to give his country a first ever Olympic high jump gold, with no shared gold this time around. Both cleared 2.36 metres, a personal best for McEwan, before failing on 2.38m. They then missed once more over 2.38m before the bar was lowered to 2.36m which they also missed. Down to 2.34, McEwen failed again but Kerr sailed over to add the Olympic gold to his world indoor title from earlier in the year. Barshim got bronze with 2.34m, on countback against Italy’s Stefano Sottile, for his fourth Olympic medal as he showed no signs of a calf problem that had bothered him in qualifying. Barshim had famously shared the Tokyo 2020 gold with another Italian, world champion Gianmarco Tamberi. Tamberi had to settle for 11th, after saying he was back in hospital early in the day with kidney problems. But he still decided to compete. Both Barshim and Tamberi have been friends and fierce competitors alike and both have had a contrasting at Paris 2024 but Barshim made it a point to hug Italian as he bowed out while the Qatari’s jumps were still on. Barshim’s dedication to himself and his sport can be gauged from how he himself had summarized what it takes. “Imagine you are the best in the world, you are the Olympic champion, but I still lock myself in a room somewhere in a mountain with two people for like one or two months. I don’t need to be doing that, but I know that’s very important for me. I need to feel that struggle. “To me, high jump is a lifestyle, you know, and I’m really glad that it transitioned to become my professional career that I really love and enjoy. That’s why, whenever it gets hard, I’ll always find a way because for me, it’s a natural love to it. It’s my way of expressing myself.” And Barshim did express himself at four Olympics and many other stage like only a sterling athlete could!  

Samba finishes sixth

Paris: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba finished sixth as American Rai Benjamin outstripped Norwegian arch-rival Karsten Warholm to win the Olympic 400m hurdles gold in Paris on Friday. Samba – who finished fifth in Tokyo three years ago – could not match his rivals as he clocked 47.48 secs in a high-quality final. It was a competitive performance from the 28-year-old, whose progress has been hampered by recurring injuries. Meanwhile, Benjamin timed 46.46 seconds as defending champion Warholm tied up badly towards the end of the race, claiming silver in 47.06sec. Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos took bronze, as he had done at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games, in 47.26sec. “I can’t believe I actually finally did it,” said Benjamin, who won silver in Tokyo as well as two world silvers and a bronze. “It just happened at the right moment. My family is here, my friends are here. To do it in front of them means so much to me. I’m just so excited.” Benjamin added: “I probably knew I had won five metres before the line. I thought I’d get dipped, but no one was there so I thought ‘wait a minute, hold on, I’m actually doing this’. And I did it. It’s just a great feeling.” Warholm acknowledged that he had struggled down the home straight. “It was good the first 300 metres and then I messed up hurdle nine, but it’s also because it was a little bit lactic, and I couldn’t get the flow from eight to nine,” he said. “Up until that point, I think I felt like it was a good race, I felt like I was in control of everything that I planned. But you can’t afford those mistakes at this level, and then it’s a silver medal. But Rai did a great job being composed and taking home the gold, so that’s what it is.” Warholm smashed the world record to claim gold in Tokyo, clocking a stunning 45.94 seconds to win ahead of Benjamin and Dos Santos. But there was no repeat at a packed 69,000-capacity Stade de France. Warholm had come into the Paris Games under pressure, having lost to both Dos Santos and Benjamin this season.  

Fares vows strong return after shock exit in Paris

Paris: Qatar weightlifter Fares Ibrahim has apologised after his bid to claim second successive Olympic gold ended in dismay in the recently-created 102kg class, in Paris yesterday.  The 26-year-old, who was one of Qatar’s main medal hopes at the ongoing Games, failed thrice to lift 178kg in snatch that eliminated him from the following clean and jerk category.    Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Fares became Qatar’s first-ever gold medalist when he topped the 96kg category, which was not the part of Paris Games.  Yesterday, he blamed a sudden injury for his failure to excel in the tough challenge.    "I apologise for the unexpected performance due to an elbow injury. This is the first time I felt this injury," Fares told beIN Sports.   "But this is not the end. I will return to achieve something in Los Angeles (2028)." Fares’ build up for Paris was challenging as he battled a hip injury before competing in the Games. He also missed the International Weightlifting Federation’s World Cup in April due to injury.  Favourite Liu Huanhua of China lived up to expectations winning the 102kg gold yesterday. Liu totalled 406kg, 7kg short of his own world record, for his two lifts in the weight class. He edged Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan by 2kg. Yauheni Tsikhantsou, a Belarusian competing as a neutral athlete, took bronze a further 2kg back.