Tribune News Network
Doha
The Qatar delegation for the Paris 2024 Paralympics is aiming for a good show at the 17th edition of the Games which will be held from August 28 to September 8 with the participation of up to 4,400 athletes from all over the world.
The Qatari delegation, headed by Dr. Hassan Al Ansari, Secretary-General of the Qatar Paralympic Committee, recently arrived in the French capital along with athletes Ali Radi Arshid and his coach Nabil Al Musalmani, and athlete Sara Masud and her coach Walid Magmoul, besides physiotherapist Anis Bougumoura, and technical expert Mohammed Suhail.
Arshid will participate in the 100m and 800m wheelchair racing, while Sara will compete in the women’s shot put (F33 category).
On the occasion, Dr. Hassan Al Ansari stressed that the main goal of Qatar’s participation in this major sporting event is to raise the Qatar flag high on the podiums, especially in light of the successes achieved by the Qatar para athletes in recent editions of the Paralympic Games and at the World Para Championships.
Al Ansari added that the Qatar athletes completed their preparations attending a number of training and overseas conditioning camps. He further said that the federation developed a training programme for these athletes to reach their peak readiness to excel at the global level.
Sara Masud: Experienced and ambitious
Sara Masud is one of the most successful and brightest athletes of Qatar and the region having claimed silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. She followed it with another silver at the World Para Games in London in 2017.
At the Asian Paralympic Games – Incheon 2014, Sara won two gold medals in the shot put and discus throw, while she won a silver medal in the shot put at the Asian Games – Jakarta 2018.
Sara continued her brilliance on the international level by winning two silver medals in the discus throw and javelin throw at the third West Asian Paralympic Games held in Bahrain in 2022, and a bronze medal in the shot put at the same tournament.
At the 2024 edition of the West Asian Paralympic Games held in Sharjah, Sara won two silver medals in the discus throw and shot put, and a bronze medal in the javelin throw.
Ali Arshid: Young talent with a promising future
Ali Arshid has been as one of the rising talents having won a bronze medal in the 100m wheelchair race at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
At the 2022 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan earlier this year, Ali finished fourth in the 400m wheelchair race and seventh in the 100m race.
At the 3rd West Asian Paralympic Games in Bahrain, Ali won a silver medal in the 100m wheelchair race and bronze medals in the 200m and 400m wheelchair races.
In the last edition of the West Asian Games held in Sharjah in 2024, he won two silver medals in the 800m wheelchair race and the 400m wheelchair race, in addition to a bronze medal in the 100m race.
China topped Tokyo
Paralympics
China had topped the overall standings in the last edition of the Tokyo Paralympics with 207 medals (96 gold, 60 silver, 51 bronze), followed by Britain in second place with 124 medals (41 gold, 38 silver, 45 bronze). USA was third place with 104 medals (37 gold, 36 silver, 31 bronze).
Arab countries won 57 medals in the competitions of the 16th edition of the Summer Paralympic Games - Tokyo 2020, hosted by Japan from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
Tunisia topped the list of Arab countries in the last edition of the Paralympic Games by occupying the 28th place in the overall ranking with (4 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals), followed by Algeria in the 29th place, with (4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals), then Morocco in the 30th place with (4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals), and Jordan in 36th place with (4 gold and a bronze medal.