Tokyo medals will be a new starting point: QOC President

Doha: The President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani stressed that Qatar’s historic achievement of winning two gold medals and a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games was the result of the great support of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Qatari sport. 

In an interview with local media, Sheikh Joaan said Qatar’s performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was the best in the history of Qatar sports, lauding the gradual increase in the tally of medals and the progress in overall ranking. 

The QOC President underlined that the three medals won by Team Qatar in Tokyo will serve as a springboard for Qatari sport. He also confirmed that the QOC will now look beyond Tokyo 2020 and evaluate Qatar’s participation on both technical and administrative levels to maintain its dominance in future tournaments. 

Sheikh Joaan said that as a supportive and founding partner of the Olympic Refuge Foundation, the QOC is ready and excited to provide even more opportunities in this regard, which is why Doha hosted the training camp of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team ahead of Tokyo 2020. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Firstly, how do you evaluate Qatar’s participation in the Summer Olympics in its 32nd edition, Tokyo 2020?
A: Firstly, I want to congratulate the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and the Qatari people on Team Qatar’s historic achievement. I also want to thank the Qatari athletes, sports federations and all the QOC staff for their faithful efforts that made this accomplishment possible. 

A total of 15 athletes have proudly represented Qatar in seven sports at the Olympic Games Tokyo including athletics, weightlifting, beach volleyball, judo, swimming, shooting and rowing.  

We can say that our Tokyo 2020 campaign was the best in the history of Qatari sport as we claimed two gold medals for the very first time when Fares Ibrahim won a gold medal in Weightlifting (96kg category) and Mutaz Barshim took the high jump gold medal. Qatar’s beach volleyball duo, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan also clinched the bronze medal which was the first Arabic medal in team events. 

Qatar also led the standings of Arab nations at Tokyo 2020, and secured the 41 st place in the overall standings of the Games. 

I would also like to underline that the goal of our participation in Tokyo was not limited to winning medals, but also included developing the skills of our promising champions and building a new generation of Qatari athletes and teams.

Q: How did you achieve this unprecedented accomplishment in the Olympic Games by winning two gold medals and a bronze medal?
A: The support of H H the Amir of the State of Qatar to Qatari sport is a driving force behind this achievement. It came as a result of many years of planning and effort, even before I assumed the Presidency of the QOC. After the Olympic Games Rio 2016, we began evaluating Qatar’s participation in that Games and developed the QOC’s strategic plan for 2017-2022 which is based on three main pillars, including: increasing community participation in sport, reviving the Olympic values and ensuring sporting excellence at both local and international levels.

In this regard, I would like to praise the efforts of the QOC secretariat-general in implementing the plans and programmes, as well as the contributions of Team Qatar’s administrative delegation during the Games who left no stone unturned to provide our athletes with an ideal environment.

Q: Qatar has participated in many Olympic Games, how do you see team Qatar’s benefits from these participations and their impact on Qatari sport?
A: Qatar’s first Olympic Games appearance was in Los Angeles 1984, and we have been represented at every edition of the Games since.

Mohamed Suleiman claimed Qatar’s first-ever bronze medal at the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 in the 1500m. At Sydney 2000, Said Saif Asaad clinched Qatar’s second Olympic medal when he took the bronze medal in the 105kg weightlifting event.

Qatari sport continued to make great progress, and the development of sport in Qatar soon resulted in two bronze medals at London 2012. Nasser Al Attiyah claimed the bronze medal in the men’s skeet event and Barshim won the men’s high jump bronze medal, taking Qatar to 76th place in the overall standings.

In Rio 2016, Barshim clinched Qatar’s first silver medal as Qatar took the 69th place in the medal table, while in the last edition of the Games in Tokyo, Qatar claimed two historic gold medals and a bronze medal.

Looking at these statistics, Qatar’s participation in the Olympic Games is witnessing a significant increase in the tally of medals and gradual progress in the ranking we occupy.

Q: Qatar has made great strides in Paralympic sports, can you please tell us about the development of these sports in Qatar, and latest preparations for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo?
A: The State of Qatar has reaffirmed its great interest in Paralympic sports and the Qatar Paralympic Committee (QPC) is working hard to make us proud in upcoming events. This is aligned with Qatar’s commitment to being an open and accessible country for all.

Qatar made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1996 Summer Paralympic Games in Atlanta. During theRio 2016 Paralympic Games, Qatar won two medals when Abdulrahman Abdulqader and Sara Masoud claimed silver medals in the men’s and women’s shotput events.

Abdulrahman Abdulqader also claimed the gold medal at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships while Sara clinched the silver medal in the same event. 

These two champions will represent Qatar at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, so I wish they can do us proud during this edition of the Games. We have also developed a detailed plan to build new generations of Paralympic champions in cooperation with the QPC.

Q: Qatari women have an amazing record of sport achievements, how do you evaluate women sport journey in Qatar?
A: In the past, Qatari women were performing sports at schools as there was not an entity taking charge of their sport tournaments until the first ever woman sport committee was founded. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser established the Qatar Women’s Sport Committee as one of the entities affiliated to the Supreme Council for Family Affairs. In 2001, the Committee joined the Qatar Olympic Committee by a decision from H H the President of the QOC to increase women’s participation base and elevate their international participation to new heights. 

At QOC, we believe in equality between men and women in sport and it is the QOC’s long term strategy which will help Qatari women enjoy full rights to practice sports. Qatari women’s debut sport appearance was at the 14th Asian Games in Busan, where they showed great performances and results. Qatari women kept their successful sport run going in the Algeria Arab Games 2004 where they won a number of medals. Two years later, they claimed a number of medals at the Doha 2006 Asian Games. Most notably, Qatar’s women handball team claimed the gold medal in the West Asian Games 2016. Also,Qatari woman raised up the scale of challenges to bring glorious achievements in table tennis, basketball, handball, the latest of them was at the GCC Games held in Kuwait.

At the Olympic Games level, Qatari women’s debut appearance was at the Olympic Games London where we fielded four athletes and Qatar’s shooter, Bahiya Al Hamad, was the county’s flag bearer at the Games. Two Qatari women competed in the rowing and athletics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 where Tala Abujbara qualified and set a new personal record. 

Doha 2030 Bid Committee Chairman H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, celebrate after 2030 Asian Games were awarded to Doha following a vote during the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly in Muscat, Oman in this December 16, 2020 file photo, 

Q: Tokyo 2020 Olympics is over, do you have any long-term plans to prepare Olympic champions to follow the steps of Barshim and Ibrahim and win medals in the future?
A: Firstly, our three medals that we won in Tokyo will be a new starting point for the Qatar sport movement. Secondly, preparing new Olympic champions needs a big effort and promising talents with the skills to reach international standards and compete in the Olympic Games. We have promising talents and staff in more than one sport, and we are sparing no effort to work cooperatively with the sport federations and Aspire Academy to develop the skills of talented age groups in order to reach similar levels of Mutaz and Fares. We will leave no stone unturned to see other Qatari athletes stepping onto podiums at the next Olympic Games. We know it is not an easy task, but with determination we will make success possible.

We turned the Tokyo page and started evaluating Qatar’s administrative and managerial participation in the Games in our quest to help secure more success and bring greater achievement to Team Qatar. 

Everyone is responsible for their tasks, and I am also responsible for any defect. Together we shall keep working hard to achieve the QOC’s message and vision as per its strategy.

To make this strategy effective, the QOC has started working tirelessly on its strategy of national teams for the 2030 Asian Games.

Q: There is a strong partnership between the QOC and Olympic Refuge Foundation, Doha has played a host city to the training camp of the refugees Olympic team ahead of their departure to Tokyo, how you see this partnership and training camp?
A: The QOC is a founding partner of the Olympic Refuge Foundation and we are keen to provide refugees with an opportunity to engage with sport.

This initiative came from the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to name Doha as the host city to 29 members of the Refugee Olympic Team who ultimately competed in 12 sports at Tokyo 2020. During a three day training camp held at Aspire Zone, those athletes had a workshop on the Olympic Games which was also attended by a number of IOC officials. This training camp was scheduled last year but it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was the second participation of the Refugee Olympic Team in the Olympic Games as their debut appearance was at Rio 2016. We are truly proud of their impressive performances at Tokyo 2020. We will keep providing our contributions to the Olympic Refuge Foundation in every possible way.

Q: Qatar won the rights of hosting the 2030 Asian Games for second time after the 2006 version and unparalleled success QOC had made, so what can Qatar bring to Asia through these Games?
A: The 2006 Asian Games were a turning point in the history of the Qatar sport movement. It was also a significant turn in the Asian sport landscape, and was praised by many for its world-class technical and organisational level.

We hosted the 2006 Asian Games that produced a lot of talent and administrative staff who are now a key element in the development of Qatar today. Our legacy from the 2006 Asian Games played a crucial role in the progress of the country, which meets with the Qatar 2030 national vision.

Doha’s bid was won after a tough competition with our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia, and this win proved Asia’s confidence in Qatar’s organisational assets. The Doha 2006 Asian Games bid impressed not only Asia, but the whole world. I’m confident that the 2030 Asian Games will be a better, greater and more memorable event than ever before.

Now, we are moving forward and ready to organise an exceptional continental event, we have the infrastructure, the accumulated experience, the sports venues, roads and metro networks and Hamad International Airport (HIA), which includes our world leading national carrier, Qatar Airways with its vital flights that link the country with the whole world. Our advanced and sustainable city also has world-class plans for the Athletes Village. When we say Doha is Games ready, we truly mean it.

Q: Everyone knows the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the whole world dramatically over the last two years, caused the cancellation and postponement of a lot of sport events, but Qatar kept its leading role as it hosted a number of major events, how you did that?
A: COVID-19 created significant challenges worldwide and affected a lot of sectors, including the sport sector, and it resulted in the cancellation of a lot of tournaments across the world. Amid this unprecedented pandemic, Qatar has constantly proved it is a capital of global sport as it hosted a lot of tournaments. This included the FIFA Club World Cup, AFC Champions league, Diamond League Doha, in addition to a number of continental and international tournaments being organised with effective countermeasures to keep participants safe. On this occasion, I would like to thank the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management and the Ministry of Public Health for their cooperative effort with us as we hosted these tournaments.

Most notably, the QOC in its cooperation with the sport federations developed a number of plans to keep the necessary programmes running for clubs and national teams during that period.

The QOC’s work pace went on uninterrupted as per the conditions and preventive measures taken to provide safety for all. So, I can say, Qatar is one of the countries that turned the corner to beat the pandemic.