There is no doubt that one of the happiest people about Barshim’s achievement is the president of the athletics federation, Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Qatari and Asian federations and Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations, given that it was under his tenure that Barshim won two Olympic medals, in London 2012 and yesterday in Rio 2016, and at the same time Barshim’s Olympic achievement will raise a number of questions, given that Mutaz was the sole exception in athletics at Rio, as despite the presence of more than one sprinter, the results were entirely illogical.
In the opening of his remarks about the achievement, Major General Dahlan Al Hamad said: “I congratulate HH the Amir of the country, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Olympic Committee, and the entire Qatari people on this achievement of which we are all proud, and we thank God for what has been achieved. Mutaz delivered what was required of him, and there is no doubt he was certainly seeking the gold medal, but he was able, with great pride, to make his country happy with this historic achievement,” and Dahlan Al Hamad added that this distinction is also credited to HE Sheikh Joaan, as the silver was achieved under his tenure, given that his excellency is keen to follow up on every small and large detail in pursuit of our champions’ excellence.
Fruitful work
On this achievement he also added: “There is no doubt that what Mutaz Essa Barshim achieved is the result of fruitful, hard work over four years of plans and preparation programmes, and the fruit of tremendous effort by the coach and the athlete, between training camps, fitness programmes, intensive training and participation in other championships, all in order to achieve an Olympic medal, and Mutaz and his coach have every right to be proud, because they reaped the result of the hard work and the long journey.”
Breaking the record
On the next step for Mutaz, the president of the athletics federation said: “Now, after winning a precious medal in Rio de Janeiro, Mutaz will think about how to break the world record, having previously come very close to it, and he is therefore capable of breaking it and has the ability to do so, as the psychological and nervous pressure is now behind him, and he will, God willing, be capable of achieving another achievement that will be recorded in his name.”
.A serious reckoning
On athletics’ disappointing results so far apart from Barshim, Dahlan Al Hamad said: “Frankly, I am not at all satisfied with athletics’ results — they are disappointing and unacceptable. After four years of spending, preparation and attention, these cannot be the results, and we will never accept them, with the exception of Mutaz Essa Barshim, who achieved something we all have the right to be proud of,”
and Al Hamad added: “We will hold accountable everyone responsible for these results, and I do not refuse to be the first to be held accountable, being the federation’s president, because the state has not fallen short in its attention and support for athletes and has provided everything required, and therefore those responsible for athletics’ failure and the unsatisfactory results must be held accountable and punished.”
Preparing for Tokyo
The president of the athletics federation also said in his statement to the Qatari media delegation that work must begin early to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and “we are optimistic, especially since there is great attention from the state towards sport, as we are experiencing great development, and the embrace of sport in clubs is essential, as well as in schools, to advance sport, and the future, God willing, looks promising, but the process must be scientific and properly calculated so that we overcome all the negatives — but if the process is haphazard, we will not move forward a single step.”
A convincing hosting
On being president of the Asian federation and Vice President of the international federation, and his view of Brazil’s organisation of the Olympics, Al Hamad said: “Every edition has its own character, with its positives and negatives, as Olympic Games editions cannot all be alike, since the capabilities of each country differ from another, but overall the hosting was satisfactory and the organisation is proceeding reasonably and appropriately, even though Brazil does not have the experience of hosting such a large, combined event with all its competitions and athletes, and it is also not possible to compare the Rio Olympics with the London Olympics, since the British are known for hosting major events and have great experience in that, in addition to having high-level infrastructure — if you want to be obeyed, ask for what is possible, as competence and experience are required factors when hosting such editions,” and Dahlan Al Hamad added: “What perhaps distinguishes this edition is the controversy that arose around doping before it began, and this edition proved that clean athletes are also capable of achieving distinguished results and were able to prove their competence and break records in athletics, while there were sprinters who failed even to achieve results or break records despite being world champions, which means that every edition also has its own circumstances, alongside the factor of age and other surrounding factors.”
Gaining experience
On our athletes Ashraf Al Seify and Diri, the president of the athletics federation said they are young athletes and talented,
and their participation in the Olympics is for the sake of gaining experience, and it is true they have competed in youth-level championships and achieved distinguished results, but today they are competing against world champions, and therefore the experience factor is also important.
Major General Dahlan Al Hamad concluded his statement by expressing his happiness at Barshim’s historic achievement, while affirming at the same time that the failure of the rest would not pass without consequence, and that there would be a decisive, firm and serious reckoning in order to move forward towards further achievements for Qatari athletics, God willing.
