Dr Thani Al Kuwari, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, welcomed participants in his speech opening the Asian Athletics Association meetings in Doha, which is hosting indoor athletics championships again after six years, following the 2010 World Indoor Championships held at Aspire, the same venue that will host the current edition of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. In his speech, Dr Thani Al Kuwari added that Qatar is committed to developing athletics to the highest standards by hosting championships, noting that these championships help drive further development of the sport, and that Qatar’s hosting of the 2019 World Championships, as the first Middle Eastern country and the first time the region has hosted such a major event, is in keeping with this approach to developing the sport – something that pleases the Qatar Olympic Committee, since it drives the sport’s development forward, widens its grassroots base, and produces new generations in the region as future champions in the years ahead. In his speech, Dr Thani Al Kuwari pointed to the promising generations who will benefit from the development of athletics in the region, and noted Qatar’s champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, who represents the fruit of that development in athletics and who will take to the field in the current edition tomorrow, Friday, seeking a fourth title in his history at the Asian championships, less than six months before the greater challenge of the Olympic Games and less than a month before the World Indoor Championships in Portland, USA.
Dr Thani Al Kuwari, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, also had words of appreciation for Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, saying: “Major General Dahlan Al Hamad and the members of the organising committee are working hard to deliver a high-quality organisation of the Asian Championships in pursuit of further successes, and I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to him for his great efforts, which will result in dedicated, outstanding work for Asian athletics.”
Lord Coe pleased with the Asian gathering
