From left to right: Muammar Issa Barsham, Al Dana Saad Al Mubrak and Reema Thomas. successes of his idol Primoz Kozmus from the Czech Republic, the <strong>Olympic</strong> Champion in Beijing 2008. The other sport which appeals to Ashraf is basketball. Otherwise, he enjoys playing electronic games with his friends. OMAR ABDULLA ANBAR Also born in 1995, is Omar, the 400m Hurdles runner. Besides a bronze medal in the GCC Juniors Championships, Anbar managed to achieve the qualifying time for the World Juniors Championships in France this July. His idols are, he says, Usain Bolt, but also the locals, Talal Mansour and Mubarak Al Nubi, who won many titles for <strong>Qatar</strong>i Athletics. In his day-to-day life, Anbar likes reading “especially about strange and unusual things, like wild animals…”, he says. EID AL KUWARI Another athlete who cites Bolt and Talal Mansour as his role models is sprinter Eid Al Kuwari, who is 18 and already has some impressive results behind him. The latest was a silver medal in the Arab Youth Championships 100m race in Egypt 2010. It was gold for him before that in the Gulf Juniors Championships in 2009. Al Kuwari also took part in the World Juniors Championships in Italy, in 2009, where he ran the 100m and 200m races. Besides the other sports he likes practicing, swimming 22 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport ISSUE <strong>14</strong> and gymnastics: “I like travelling and sitting with friends to talk about everything and nothing in our traditional “Majlis””. AL DANA SAAD AL MUBARAK Born in 1993, Al Dana is the Arab Champion in Pistol Shooting. She won this title in the 1st Arab Shooting Championships held in Jordan in April. "During the last <strong>Olympic</strong> Games in Beijing, I was three years younger and was far from thinking that I would be part of the <strong>Qatar</strong> National Shooting Team." This success seems to have surprised Al Dana who suddenly found herself at the top of her sport in the Gulf region. “It happened so fast, I did not have time to even think of choosing a sporting idol, either locally, regionally or internationally,” she says. “The sport which made me a sort of hero in my country is not very popular. Even the media don't reserve much space for this sport. “I am now trying to learn about my sport but it’s quite hard to find a lot of information. Apart from the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games, where we can see a lot of shooting competition, there are really a very few occasions to admire this sport. During the last <strong>Olympic</strong> Games in Beijing, I was three years younger and was far from thinking that I would be part of the <strong>Qatar</strong> National Shooting Team.” When she is not training or taking part in a shooting competition, Al Dana likes to practice swimming. Electronic or video games are also an alternative indoor activity. Drawing or painting puts more variety in Al Dana's life and adds an artistic touch and some time for relaxation to balance the intensity and concentration of shooting competition. REEMA THOMAS As one of the most promising young girls in the <strong>Qatar</strong> Athletics team, long jumper Reema Thomas leapt to an excellent silver medal in last Asian Youth Games in Singapore 2009 with a performance of 5.9m. Fatima Sassani (heptathlon) and Assrar Ahmed Al Mannai (shot put and discus throw) are two other promising girls who are proving that <strong>Qatar</strong>i sport for women is on the right track. The <strong>Qatar</strong> Women's Sport <strong>Committee</strong> is intensifying its efforts to encourage girls and teenagers taking on sport and proving their abilities to perform, not only in schools or universities, but also in the fields of play.
“To become a leading nation in bringing the world together through sport”