The UAE’s participation in the 32nd Summer Olympics, hosted by the Japanese capital, Tokyo, during the period from July 23 to August 8, concluded with the participation of 11,839 athletes competing in 33 sports, with 339 competitions in 48 sports facilities.
The participation of our sports delegation in 4 sports in the Tokyo Olympics was witnessed by the 5 participating athletes, who are Saif Bin Futais, the shooter of our national team, who ranked 24 in the skeet competition with 117 points, and the duo Victor Sktov and Ivan Romanko, players of our national judo team, who left from the round of 32 in the underweight category. 73 kg and under 100 kg, respectively.
Youssef Al-Matrooshi, who finished 50th in the 100-meter freestyle swim, scored a time of 51:50 seconds after a good appearance in his first Olympic participation, and our national team runner Mohamed Hassan Al-Noubi bid farewell to the competitions after recording a time of 10:59 seconds in the preliminary round to qualify for the final rounds that witnessed He achieved a time of 10:64 seconds in eighth place.
Our children participating in the thirty-second edition of the Olympic Games and the tenth participation of the UAE in the Olympics were not able to achieve any new addition to our balance of colored Olympic medals after the gold of Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum in the double pit (double trap) in the Athens Olympics in 2004, and the bronze of Sergio Toma in Judo at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Nasser Al-Tamimi, Secretary-General of the Judo and Wrestling Federation, stressed that the Olympic Games have a specificity and a different character from the rest of the entitlements, especially judo, in which it is difficult to predict the champion and the loser, given the convergence of levels, as very simple details can resolve the medals for some players, while success is far away In it about some other players despite their strength and readiness, it is unknown when there are the best 20 players in the world, and in the Olympic Games currently held in Tokyo, many former Olympic champions and world champions left the Olympic forum without achieving a colorful medal and exited from the preliminary rounds, as well as many Among the strong and long-standing countries in judo, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, participating in all weights, which have not achieved any medals so far. The budget for preparing judokas in Russia is $100 million for four years, at an average of $25 million for one year.
Major General Muhammad Abdullah Al-Murr, President of the Athletics Federation, also stressed the need for an innovative program to ensure upgrading the level of the mother of games and needs a system based on a governance institutional system, pointing out that the UAE, according to its vision, has developed a strategy to be among the best countries in the world by the golden jubilee of the federation, including Upgrading the sport of the UAE to compete at the international level, especially in the Olympic participation and achievement.
Al-Murr added, "We are currently working in the Federation to develop a strategy that includes a set of axes, the most prominent of which is the interest in the game within clubs, the manufacture of champions, support for school sports, the development of women's athletics, and the settlement of referees and coaches."
Sultan Al-Samahi, President of the Swimming Federation, considered that Youssef Al-Matrooshi’s participation in the Olympics is a new beginning for the swimmer seeking excellence in the world of swimming, pointing out that the support that the Federation found from the General Sports Authority and the Olympic Committee was a motive for qualifying the player and approaching the Olympic qualification number in the Egyptian Championship. International, where Yousef Al Matrooshi has nearly 35 records registered in his name, which means that he is the best in the history of Emirati swimming so far, with the numbers he achieved when he was only 19 years old.
Ahmed Al-Tayeb, director of the UAE delegation to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, said that swimmer Yousef Al-Matrooshi will be a difficult figure for the UAE sport, given the great enthusiasm and passion that everyone has touched, stressing that he will be one of the athletes we count on to achieve distinguished numbers during the next stage and achieve an Asian medal for swimming. The UAE will be in the Asian Games next year, and we are confident that it will qualify for the Paris Olympics in 2024 through its personal numbers and its honorable and advanced level without waiting for invitation cards.