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MY LONDON 2012
“It was my dream to win an Olympic medal and the
Dakar-Rally. Now I have done both. But it was a
completely different feeling [in London] because the
Olympics is every four years and the Dakar Rally can
be done every year. I learn and take a lot from rallying
about how to fight and this is what I did here because I
didn’t have a lot of training. In Athens [2004], I had a
shoot-off for a bronze medal and lost, but I remembered
that day and did my best to finish third. I am not ready to
give up. Hopefully I will be fit and in good form when we
prepare for the next edition of the Olympic Games.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah, Men’s Skeet Shooing
“I enjoyed my debut… and I will improve, I am confident
of that. I wasn’t nervous at all, it’s just that other shooters
were better because they had more experience. My best
[in the 10m air rifle] is 397. I made 395. If I had equalled
my best, that would have been good enough to qualify
for the final. However, I am not disappointed. This was a
great experience, which I will take with me. I am happy
that I came top among the Arab girls at the Games. I
need to improve on the mental aspect of my game [but]
this gives me confidence that I can do better than I have
here in the future.”
Bahiya Al-Hamad, Women’s Air Rifle Shooting
“It was a really tough competition and I was not sure
[of competing] when I came to London because I was
injured. My injury was a stress fracture in my spinal
chord and it was serious. In qualifying I did not do
very well. It was raining and windy and, to tell you the
truth, I was afraid. But once I was in the finals,
I knew my body was responding well. I was talking to the
coach and getting the right advice at the right time and
once I was through with my attempts, there was just one
more athlete remaining. If he failed, I knew I had the
bronze. Because of everything, this bronze is better than
a gold medal.”
Mutaz Barshim, Men’s High Jump
22 | Issue 19 | Qatar Sport