An exciting couple of days of Olympic competition await Team Qatar with London 2012 bronze medallist Mutaz Barshim in action, the show jumping team making their Olympic debuts, and Asia’s fastest man, Femi Ogunode, lining up in the 100m.
Today, Ogunode will take to the track for the first time at Rio 2016 between 15:30 and 15:51 Doha time. With a blistering personal best of 9.91 seconds, Ogunode will be looking to progress to the next round.
The youngest member of Team Qatar, 16-year-old Dalal al-Ajmi, will make her Olympic debut on the same night as she competes in the Women’s 400m heats from 17:00-17:42 Doha time.
Meanwhile Team Qatar’s handball team will face off against Denmark at 20:40 Doha time today, after their hard-earned tie with Tunisia on Thursday. The team lagged behind Tunisia until the very end of the second half, when the team, led by captain Abdulrazzaq Morad, pulled through to tie 25-25 in the final minute.
Qatar’s equestrian team will take the reins tomorrow as they compete in the show jumping qualifications at 16:00 Doha Time. Qatar’s show jumping athletes include Ali al-Rumaihi, Bassem Mohamed, Faleh al-Ajmi, Hamad al-Attiyah and flag bearer Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani. The team made history when they became the first Qatari show jumping team to qualify to the Olympics, after winning the second stage of the FEI Nations Cup in Abu Dhabi last year.
Speaking before his competition Sheikh Ali said: “Qualifying for Rio was an indescribable feeling. We worked hard to achieve this goal and we succeeded. We were incredibly happy to be the first ever Qatari show jumping team to qualify to the Olympic Games. As teammates we have a very strong relationship which makes us a strong, competitive team. We hope to get a gold medal and make Qatar proud.”
Star high jumper Barshim, who won bronze in the London 2012 Olympic Games and cleared the second highest jump in history with 2.43m in 2014, will take to the Olympic stage once more tomorrow at the men’s high jump qualifying event at 02:30 Doha Time.
“To represent Qatar at the second time at the Olympics is amazing. The first time I was very happy and I look forward to Rio 2016 and represent in the best way possible. I don’t think my experience from 2012 will help a lot so I’m not going to rely on it. It was a special case. I was injured. Hopefully I don’t want to be injured now, hopefully I’m going to be there full strength. And I will use all my experience from all the last 4 years to try and accomplish good result at Rio 2016. I think my biggest rival in Rio is myself – if I beat myself then that’s it,” Barshim had said before heading for Rio.
August 14 is slated to be an exciting night as the world’s fastest men compete head-to-head in the 100m semi-final and final at 03:07 and 04:25 Doha time respectively, with medal-hopeful Ogunode possibly amongst the start lists.