HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, opened the Gymnasiade competitions yesterday at Aspire, with 42 countries taking part, in the presence of Mr Jean Bijon, president of the International School Sport Federation, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Mr Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, Rabiaa Al Kaabi, head of the organising committee, and a host of international, Arab and Qatari sports figures
Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, declared the opening of the school games “Doha Gymnasiade 2009” and delivered a speech for the occasion in which he welcomed the guests and the young competitors to Qatar, wished them a pleasant stay, and stressed the lofty values of this championship, which cares for young people and students and prepares them for the future.
He began by welcoming everyone to Qatar at this gathering celebrating the opening of a global school sports event, in which we host the youth of the world at the Doha Gymnasiade 2009, making this event a continuation of, and support for, school sport in Qatar and the world, and a way to inspire the future generation around the world to embrace Olympic values. Through it we support opportunities for sporting excellence and affirm the values of communication and fair competition among you, young people, as you represent an elite group of the 
world’s students.
The minister added that Qatar’s hosting of this global school sports gathering was a message to the entire world, affirming the country’s ability to create and organise sporting events at global, continental and regional level. He said this global event was practical proof reflecting the directives of HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his trusted Crown Prince at the time, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the need to give young people the utmost attention as a fundamental pillar of the nation’s progress and development, and that staging and organising this global event was practical evidence of Qatar’s leading position on the world sporting map.
Amid a spectacular carnival and dazzling atmosphere, and in front of around 1,500 spectators, the 14th World School Games “Doha Gymnasiade” opened yesterday at the Aspire sporting excellence city, with 41 countries from around the world taking part, represented by around 1,200 athletes in three sports: swimming, gymnastics, and athletics for boys and girls. The opening ceremony was attended by HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, who delivered a speech announcing the launch of the Doha Gymnasiade 2009 events. Also attending the opening was Mr Jean-Louis Bougon, president of the International School Sport Federation.
A number of sports teams performed a beautiful segment set to well-known music, accompanied by gymnastics displays in which teams performed routines inspired by various gymnastic disciplines, such as ribbon and ball routines and well-known floor gymnastics skills, which won the admiration of the European, Arab and Asian spectators present at the ceremony, who expressed their delight at taking part in the opening of this beautiful championship.
Events get under way
Today saw the start of 20 events, including 5 finals. Today’s events include the “400m”, “hammer throw”, “100m”, “400m hurdles” for girls, “shot put” for boys, “javelin throw” for girls, “pole vault” for girls, “high jump” for girls, “long jump” for boys, “2000m steeplechase” for girls, “3000m” for girls, “discus throw” for boys, and “triple jump” for girls.
Participating countries
The countries taking part in the championship are Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Puerto Rico, China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Djibouti, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Oman, Palestine, Bulgaria, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Syria, Chinese Taipei, Tunisia, the UAE, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Greece and Germany, in addition to our national delegation, which is competing in all three sports at boys’ and girls’ level.
Delighted at the large participation from around the world
Khalil Al Jaber, the games’ director general, expressed his overwhelming happiness at the great success achieved through the successful start of the opening ceremony, which gave a genuine impression of Qatari excellence in organising global sporting events.
Khalil Al Jaber pointed out that holding these global competitions was a great opportunity for school students from different countries to showcase their sporting talents in particular, and that schools are the environment that nurtures sport across its various disciplines, adding that he hoped clubs would benefit from these rising talents.
Khalil Al Jaber added: “We are delighted with the large turnout, especially the Arab participation,” noting that the organising committee for the current games had worked hard to persuade the international federation to allow 8 Arab countries that are not members of the International School Sport Federation to take part for the first time without paying participation fees, in order to encourage them to take part in future games.
Khalil Al Jaber added that there is an Arab school sport federation as well as a Gulf federation, and it is natural for us to also have a presence in the International School Sport Federation, especially since there are 22 Arab countries, a large number that we hope will be represented more strongly in the International School Sport Federation.
Khalil Al Jaber said games like these are a golden opportunity for students from Arab countries to take part, given the large number of countries from around the world taking part, which gives participants experience they badly need
HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, opened the Gymnasiade competitions yesterday at Aspire, with 42 countries taking part, in the presence of Mr Jean Bijon, president of the International School Sport Federation, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Mr Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, Rabiaa Al Kaabi, head of the organising committee, and a host of international, Arab and Qatari sports figures
Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, declared the opening of the school games “Doha Gymnasiade 2009” and delivered a speech for the occasion in which he welcomed the guests and the young competitors to Qatar, wished them a pleasant stay, and stressed the lofty values of this championship, which cares for young people and students and prepares them for the future.
He began by welcoming everyone to Qatar at this gathering celebrating the opening of a global school sports event, in which we host the youth of the world at the Doha Gymnasiade 2009, making this event a continuation of, and support for, school sport in Qatar and the world, and a way to inspire the future generation around the world to embrace Olympic values. Through it we support opportunities for sporting excellence and affirm the values of communication and fair competition among you, young people, as you represent an elite group of the world’s students.
The minister added that Qatar’s hosting of this global school sports gathering was a message to the entire world, affirming the country’s ability to create and organise sporting events at global, continental and regional level. He said this global event was practical proof reflecting the directives of HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his trusted Crown Prince at the time, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the need to give young people the utmost attention as a fundamental pillar of the nation’s progress and development, and that staging and organising this global event was practical evidence of Qatar’s leading position on the world sporting map.
Amid a spectacular carnival and dazzling atmosphere, and in front of around 1,500 spectators, the 14th World School Games “Doha Gymnasiade” opened yesterday at the Aspire sporting excellence city, with 41 countries from around the world taking part, represented by around 1,200 athletes in three sports: swimming, gymnastics, and athletics for boys and girls. The opening ceremony was attended by HE Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education, who delivered a speech announcing the launch of the Doha Gymnasiade 2009 events. Also attending the opening was Mr Jean-Louis Bougon, president of the International School Sport Federation.
A number of sports teams performed a beautiful segment set to well-known music, accompanied by gymnastics displays in which teams performed routines inspired by various gymnastic disciplines, such as ribbon and ball routines and well-known floor gymnastics skills, which won the admiration of the European, Arab and Asian spectators present at the ceremony, who expressed their delight at taking part in the opening of this beautiful championship.
Events get under way
Today saw the start of 20 events, including 5 finals. Today’s events include the “400m”, “hammer throw”, “100m”, “400m hurdles” for girls, “shot put” for boys, “javelin throw” for girls, “pole vault” for girls, “high jump” for girls, “long jump” for boys, “2000m steeplechase” for girls, “3000m” for girls, “discus throw” for boys, and “triple jump” for girls.
Participating countries
The countries taking part in the championship are Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Puerto Rico, China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Djibouti, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Oman, Palestine, Bulgaria, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Syria, Chinese Taipei, Tunisia, the UAE, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Greece and Germany, in addition to our national delegation, which is competing in all three sports at boys’ and girls’ level.
Delighted at the large participation from around the world
Khalil Al Jaber, the games’ director general, expressed his overwhelming happiness at the great success achieved through the successful start of the opening ceremony, which gave a genuine impression of Qatari excellence in organising global sporting events.
Khalil Al Jaber pointed out that holding these global competitions was a great opportunity for school students from different countries to showcase their sporting talents in particular, and that schools are the environment that nurtures sport across its various disciplines, adding that he hoped clubs would benefit from these rising talents.
Khalil Al Jaber added: “We are delighted with the large turnout, especially the Arab participation,” noting that the organising committee for the current games had worked hard to persuade the international federation to allow 8 Arab countries that are not members of the International School Sport Federation to take part for the first time without paying participation fees, in order to encourage them to take part in future games.
