Qatar’s Paralympians Sara Masoud and  Abdelrahman Abdelqader have done the country proud. With two of the three-member team winning silver medals at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, it can be rightly claimed that Qatar’s efforts to promote sports for the differently abled are paying off.
The Paralympics traditionally follows the Summer Olympics in the same city, and this year was contested fiercely by athletes from about 170 countries. Many of them have such severe disabilities that it almost seems surreal when they step onto the field to showcase their skills, leaving spectators completely awestruck.
While the coverage they get worldwide is nothing compared to what the multimillionaire, high-profile athletes with sculpted bodies receive, it is encouraging to see thousands of spectators paying decent sums of money to watch them perform at stadiums.
In fact, last Saturday the attendance at Paralympics was a whopping 167,675, beating the figure of 157,000 who thronged the venue during the busiest day of the regular Olympics.
The Rio Paralympics sold 1.7mn tickets, compared to the 1.8mn sold during the Beijing event eight years ago. The 2.8mn tickets sold in London in 2012 remains the highest figure so far in the history of the Paralympics.
Abdelrahman won Qatar’s first ever Paralympic medal with a fine show in the shot put event which fetched him a silver.  Ranked third in the world in the F34 category (moderate to severe lower limb problems), Abdelrahman was required to throw the shot from a sitting position, and he made his efforts count with a throw of 11.5 metres, with Moroccan Azeddine Nouiri taking the gold.
“When I first came here I wasn’t expecting a medal – I placed 6th in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Of course it was my ambition to win a medal in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and thankfully I made it happen. Winning silver was an indescribable feeling – it is the first Paralympic medal in Qatar’s history which is something I am incredibly proud of,” said the 27-year-old.
Although it was the first time Abdelqader had won a medal at the Paralympics, he is well known in Asia and the Arab world. He won a gold medal in shot put and bronze in javelin during the 2014 Asian Para Games, as well as a gold medal in shot put during the 7th Fazaa International Championship 2015. The Qatari also competed in the Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships where he narrowly missed out on a world medal in shot put and took 4th place – an experience he undoubtedly built on ahead of Rio 2016.
Meanwhile, Sara became Qatar’s first ever female Paralympic medallist after winning silver in the F33 shot put event on September 16. The 30-year-old achieved the honour despite tough competition from Algerian Asmahan Boudjadar and Sara al-Senaani of the UAE with a throw of 5.09 metres.
She is improving by leaps and bounds every year. After winning gold medals in discus throw and shot put at the 2014 Asian Para Games, she went on to win a silver medal in the discus throw and shot put in the Beijing 2015 IPC Grand Prix.
Qatar authorities arranged a gala reception at the Hamad International Airport when they returned from Rio early morning yesterday and are understandably proud of their achievements. They deserve every bit of the adulation they are receiving because they are role models not only for Qatar, but also for the entire Arab world and those who wish to live their lives to the fullest despite their disabilities.