Maryam leaves legacy as Safia carries UAE’s hopes in Paris

Safia Al Sayegh, UAE national cycling team player, will continue the UAE’s sports delegation participating in the 33rd edition of the Olympic Games held in the French capital Paris with 10,500 athletes competing in the Games.

The UAE is represented by 14 male and female athletes competing in 5 different sports: equestrian, judo, athletics, cycling, and swimming. Al Sayegh will compete in the women’s road race, which covers a distance of 158 km, with the participation of 96 females on Sunday.

The American Kristin Armstrong is the oldest cyclist to win an Olympic medal in the road race category for both men and women, at the age of 43, when she won the women’s individual time trial in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Conversely, the Belgian Rik Van Looy is the youngest Olympic champion in road cycling, winning the gold medal in the men’s team road race at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 at the age of 18 years and 226 days.

Three out of five sports have completed their participation within the UAE delegation at the Olympic event so far. In swimming, Maha Al Shehhi competed in the 200m freestyle, achieving a time of 2:17.17 minutes, 20 milliseconds faster than her previous record, finishing 28th overall. Yousuf Al Matrooshi recorded a time of 50.39 seconds in the 100m freestyle, finishing 44th and breaking his previous record of 50.43 seconds. The UAE national equestrian team concluded its participation in the team jumping competition in the qualifying round, finishing 18th with a total of 72 errors and a time of 249.47 seconds. The team still has the individual competition, which will take place the day after on Monday, and will last for two days at the Palace of Versailles.

Maryam Al Farsi, UAE national team sprinter, also concluded her participation in the competition, finishing ninth in the second round of the 100 metres with a personal best time of 13.26 seconds.

The UAE national judo team also completed their participation in the tournament across six different weight categories through players including Bashirat Kharoudi in the 52 kg category, Narmand Bayan in the under 66 kg category, Talal Shvili in the under 81 kg category, Aram Gregorian, who was on the verge of qualifying for the semi-finals in the under 90 kg category after impressive performances and winning the first and second matches, Dhafer Aram in the under 100 kg category, and Omar Marouf in the over 100 kg category, who was eliminated in the round of 16 due to some refereeing errors after defeating the Algerian champion in the round of 32.

Dr. Yasir Omar Al Doukhi, Secretary-General of the UAE Cycling Federation, confirmed that Safia Al Sayegh’s qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics is the greatest incentive for her to be a role model for all female athletes, whether in cycling or other sports, especially since she participated in the senior women’s category, which gives her great experience through competing with the elite in this sport.

Doukhi pointed out that the national teams committee has begun preparing well for participation in the Dakar Youth Olympics through the presence of several cyclists ready to participate. The federation has been working on preparing them for a while to ensure they are ready according to the set timeline and technical plans, in coordination between the National Teams Committee, the Federation, and the Olympic Committee.

Al Doukhi explained that having young cyclists on the UAE team has significantly contributed to achieving great success for the national teams recently. This includes winning the first Asian gold and silver medals in the road race under 23 years.

Agencies