Major General Dahlan Al Hamad honoured Asia’s Olympic and world champions, represented by China’s Wailing Chang, winner of the 10km walk gold at the Barcelona Olympics (1992); Syria’s Ghada Shouaa, heptathlon champion at the Atlanta Olympics (1996); China’s Wang Liping, winner of the 50km walk gold at the Sydney Olympics (2000); Kazakhstan’s Olga Shishigina, an Olympic medallist in the 100m hurdles at Sydney (2000); Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, an Olympic medallist in the triple jump at London (2012); and China’s Dong Shan, an Olympic medallist at the London Games (2012).
The Asian tribute also included leaders and pioneers among the Asian Athletics Association’s former presidents over the past decades since its founding: Japan’s Seiko Yoshida (1979-1991), Indonesia’s Mohamad “Bob” Hasan (1991-2000) and India’s Suresh Kalmadi (2000-2013), in addition to Prince Nawaf bin Mohammed, president of the Saudi Arabian athletics federation and the longest-serving of all Asian federation presidents, in recognition of their contributions and considerable efforts to advance Asian athletics for the better. The tribute also honoured veteran figures of the Asian federation: Nicholas Morris, the federation’s secretary-general, Thailand’s Sawang Ramingwong, and William Kho.
