Athletes say that the UAE has the potential to achieve the best results, and they affirm:

The Olympic champion project needs long-term plans and support for school and university sports

• Swimmer Yousef Al Matrooshi carrying the UAE flag during the opening of the Olympic Games in Tokyo yesterday.

  From the source

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Athletes called for the need to work on developing plans that contribute to the advancement of Emirati sports, by setting plans that contribute to the development of the level of players, so that the Emirati participation in the Olympics is fruitful, in comparison with the development and growth taking place in all fields in the Emirates.

The UAE is participating in the “Tokyo 2020” edition through five athletes, and new hopes are emerging for good results, as the Emirati harvest is still limited to two medals, gold by Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, in archery at the “Athens 2004” tournament, and bronze in judo for Touma Road in Rio de Janeiro 2016

The athletes told "Emirates Today" that there are many ways to make qualification and a continuous presence in the Olympics possible, by developing long-term plans, taking care of talents, and supporting school sports and in universities, which are the first source of sports in the advanced countries.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Athletics Federation, Adel Darwish, stressed that the UAE deserves the best in the Olympic Games, commensurate with the scale of development and economic growth witnessed by the country, stressing that the UAE's obtaining only two medals is not satisfactory.

Adel Darwish said: "The UAE's participation in the Tokyo Games is positive, because the presence in this global forum is important, especially after the Corona pandemic, which negatively affected Emirati sports, and had the effect of postponing the tournament for a year, in addition to claiming the lives of many athletes, which is What makes participation in this edition is important away from any accounts due to poor preparation and tournaments that were canceled in many countries.”

He continued: "There is a great failure to support sports in general, and in the required form, and indeed there are difficulties and challenges, but this does not prevent sports development to keep pace with this general development. The UAE is one of the world's largest competitive countries, and it tops many indicators, so there must be A share of the sport.

He continued, "There must be a big role for school and university sports, which is the incubator for Emirati sports, and concerted efforts between institutions are important to work on creating Emirati sports and bringing it to the podiums. The problem is not only Emirati, but all Arab countries suffer from it, because the project of an Olympic champion does not receive real attention. Investment in it must start from the very young age of the players’ nails, and interest starts from childhood, in order to benefit from them afterwards.”

For his part, former member of the Board of Directors of the Football Association, Dr. Salim Al Shamsi, said that there are some individual efforts in the game of shooting or judo in order to achieve a satisfactory result, noting that “in view of previous participations, and the size of the pandemic that struck global sport, we find that the participation of The Emirati mission comes to attend this global forum, and the five players are not expected to achieve any significant achievement, unless this happens in shooting and judo with individual efforts, and we hope that there will be positive participation in Tokyo, and a better view of Emirati sports in the future.

The coach of the swimming team and Al-Wasl club, Marwan Al-Hattawi, said that Youssef Al-Matrooshi's participation in swimming in the Tokyo Games for the first time, and his age does not exceed 19 years, is very important for his future.

He explained that "Al-Matrooshi's number is very close to the Olympic qualification number in less than a second, which would have been achieved if the Emirati sport had not stopped, due to the Corona pandemic, as the player stopped the tournaments for nearly a year," and said that having the opportunity to participate is an important matter Very, for the player and for the game of swimming in the Emirates.

Al-Hattawi indicated that Youssef's goal in participating is to try to achieve the qualifying number for the championship through the 100-meter race, after he achieved a new record for him in the Egypt International Championship, and the next goal will be to prepare as required for the upcoming benefits, including the World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, and the goal The biggest after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

• Two medals: gold and bronze, the UAE's harvest in the history of Olympic participation.

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