Doha: Curtains came down on the 14th edition of the Schools Olympic Program (SOP) 2020 – 2021, at the headquarters of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) on Monday.
The closing ceremony was attended by the SOP senior organisers, the teaching staff of primary, preparatory and secondary schools and students.
During presentation ceremony, top three winners in both teams and individuals categories of the Virtual Marathon from primary, preparatory and secondary schools (boys and girls) were crowned respectively.
In a festive atmosphere, Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid Al Thani, Chairman of the SOP Organising Committee, Sheikha Al Qahtani, member of SOP Organising Committee and Abdulrahman Al Muftah, Executive Director of Qatar School Sports Association crowned the top winners.
In a post-event statement on Monday, the SOP Organising Committee Chairman said, "COVID-19 pandemic has imposed new reality and challenges, forced us to turn into virtual competitions in order to keep everyone safe.
“We are truly happy to see around 1,900 students (boys and girls) from 30 school from different learning stages participated in the virtual marathon, which received wide-scale turnout and made our goals achievable, so we hope this program to be a pillar for us when we host 2030 Asian Games,” added Sheikh Khalifa.
The SOP aims to promote a culture of sport among students and engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.
