The Qatar Olympic Committee honoured the two champions Mutaz Essa Barshim, who won gold in the high jump at the World Indoor Athletics Championships held in the Polish city of Sopot from 7-9 March, and sprinter Femi Ogunode, who won bronze in the 60m at the same championships.
This came during a reception held for them by HE Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, at his office on Wednesday morning, where he presented them with a commemorative shield from the committee and the cash reward allocated to each of them under the Olympic Committee’s regulations, in recognition of their world achievement.
The reception was attended, alongside the two champions, by Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, president of the Qatari and Asian federations and vice-president of the IAAF, the players’ coaches, and, from the Olympic Committee, Mr Faisal Saleh Al Mansouri, director of the public relations and marketing department.
HE Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani expressed his happiness at what champions Mutaz Essa Barshim and Femi Ogunode had achieved, and said the achievement was the fruit of the support and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of Qatar, for Qatari sport in general and athletics in particular.
He added that the two medals won at the World Indoor Athletics Championships confirmed that Qatari sport is in constant development thanks to the support and attention of the wise leadership and the great efforts made by officials at Qatari sports federations.
The Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee extended his heartfelt thanks to champions Mutaz Essa Barshim and Femi Ogunode and the members of the administrative and technical staff for all the efforts they made that bore fruit in this world achievement, while also praising the work being done by the board of directors of the Qatar Athletics Federation, chaired by Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, in harnessing all resources and giving great attention to the champions, which contributes to bringing our champions to prominence and achieving outstanding results in various international participations.
For his part, Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, president of the Qatari and Asian federations and vice-president of the IAAF, extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Qatar Olympic Committee for this honour, which reflects the great attention the Olympic Committee pays to Qatari sport in general and athletics in particular.
Major General Dahlan Al Hamad said the honour represented a motivation for the federation to redouble its efforts and achieve further success in future participations, affirming that Qatari athletics’ achievements did not come out of nowhere, but were the fruit of the support of the wise leadership and all those responsible for Qatari sport.
The president of the Qatar Athletics Federation called on all Qatari athletics champions to give more effort and dedication in the coming period to continue the march of achievements, while also affirming the federation’s keenness to put in place preparation programmes to ensure an honourable showing at various international events.
For their part, the two players expressed their happiness at this honour, affirming that they were proud to represent Qatar in the best possible way at the biggest international sporting competitions, thanks to the great support enjoyed by athletes at all levels in the country.
Our Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim had been crowned with the high jump gold medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships held in the city of Sopot, Poland, after recording a mark of ( 2.38 m ), outperforming London 2012 Olympic champion, Russia’s Ivan Ukhov, who had to settle for the silver medal, while Ukraine’s Andrei Broyeski won the bronze medal, while sprinter Femi Ogunode succeeded in winning the bronze medal in the 60 m with a time of ( 6.52 sec ), behind British sprinter Kilty, who won the gold medal with a time of ( 6.46 sec ), and American Marvin won the bronze medal with a time of 6.51 sec
