The Syrians replace “Good Morning” with “Mabrouk” at the Tokyo Olympics

The Syrians replaced the morning and evening greetings with the word "Congratulations", due to their overjoyed over the achievement of weightlifter Maan Asaad, who succeeded yesterday in snatching bronze in the +109 kg weight at the Tokyo Olympics, ending an Olympic drought that lasted 17 years.

Asaad gave his country its first medal since the 2004 Athens Olympics, by lifting 190 kg and 234 nits (424 kg), to be third behind Georgian Lasha Talakhadze, who broke the world record with 488 kg, and Iran's Ali Daoudi (441 kg).

Thus, Asaad broke the barrier of the three medals that Syria won in the history of its previous participation in the Olympic Games, raising the total to four.

That bronze was like lighting a candle in the darkness of the difficult conditions in the country.

Since 2011, Syria has been witnessing a bloody conflict that has killed nearly half a million people, caused massive destruction to infrastructure and productive sectors, and led to the displacement and displacement of millions of people inside and outside the country.

Today, in addition to the economic crisis, most Syrian cities are plunged into complete darkness as a result of the hours of electricity rationing for long periods, which increase in the summer.

This interruption prevented many from following the Olympic competitions, but some of them found their way in cafes that have generators and large screens, while others resorted to following up on their phones.

The Syrians suffered successive disappointments as a result of the early exit of their "champions" from the competitions, such as high jumper Majdaldin Ghazal, and table tennis player Hind Zaza, the youngest participant in Tokyo (12 years).

But the conclusion was muted, as many Syrians say, including the former champion in weightlifting, Mustafa Abu Ajeeb, who considered that the Asaad bronze “is very important, and it reflects the need to pay attention to individual games and provide the appropriate conditions for preparing their champions.”

"special flavor"

For his part, the head of the General Sports Federation in Syria, Firas Mualla, praised Asaad's achievement, which was the result of "good preparation and providing all the requirements for success."

The first reaction to Asaad's victory by Al-Ittihad was to allocate a financial reward for him, his coach and his brother, Qais, in the amount of 25 million pounds each (about eight thousand dollars).

Al-Wahda Club of Damascus also announced the allocation of a financial reward for the two brothers, without mentioning its value.

For his part, the former Syrian weightlifting champion, head of the Sports Federation in the eighties, Samih Mudallal, believes that Asaad's victory is "a unique achievement in the sport of weightlifting in Syria."

Asaad said after his coronation to (BN Sports), this medal has a special flavor after a long absence.

He participated in the current games after getting rid of the shoulder pain that followed his participation in the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan last April, when he achieved three silvers with a local record of 433 kg (195 snatches and 238 nits).

Asaad, who carried a picture of his brother during his coronation, added, "My brother is a martyr and he was a weightlifter. I swore from the day he was martyred to dedicate this medal to him.

"I thank our great people who supported me with their prayers, and I dedicate this victory to President (Bashar al-Assad) and to everyone who supported me and stood with me," he added.

For his part, Asaad's brother and coach Qais praised the achievement, saying that it is "great despite the difficult circumstances and the war that our people and country have been experiencing for ten years."

He described the achievement as "come to combine the efforts of many, and it is the result of hard work that lasted five years."

Syria had participated in the Tokyo Olympics with a small delegation of five players and one player in table tennis, tourism, equestrian, triathlon, athletics and weightlifting. All of them, except for Saad, failed to achieve positive results.

It is noteworthy that during its previous participation in the Olympic Games, Syria won three different medals, gold won by runner Ghada Shuaa in the heptathlon competition in Atlanta in 1996, silver for wrestler Joseph Attieh in Los Angeles 1984, and bronze for boxer Nasser al-Shami in Athens 2004.

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