EYES ON CHINA GOLD - Qatar Olympic Committee
EYES ON CHINA GOLD - Qatar Olympic Committee
EYES ON CHINA GOLD - Qatar Olympic Committee
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Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Secretary General, <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong><br />
Welcome...<br />
Like people the world over, we are eagerly looking<br />
forward to the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games.<br />
This summer over 10,000 athletes and officials and a<br />
further 20,000 media representatives will be in Beijing to<br />
celebrate sport, life and humanity in what has come to<br />
be known as The Greatest Show On Earth.<br />
The Opening ceremony is set to become the most<br />
watched programme in the history of television with<br />
nearly 2 billion people around the world tuning<br />
in. That surely underscores the global importance<br />
of these Games.<br />
The <strong>Olympic</strong> Games represents the pinnacle of every<br />
competitor’s sports career. They may set new records and<br />
even win world championships but, in most sports, an<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> Gold medal is the ultimate goal.<br />
“The values of sport and fair play are<br />
more important than the barriers<br />
of nationality and politics”<br />
That is why I am delighted that <strong>Qatar</strong> will send<br />
its biggest ever delegation to the Beijing Games. Six<br />
federations - Athletics (Track and Field) Archery, Fencing,<br />
Swimming Shooting and Taekwondo - are sending<br />
competitors and our nation will also be represented in<br />
the Paralympic Games.<br />
In many respects, the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games provide an<br />
indicator of how far sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> has come and how<br />
quickly it is developing. It is a credit to the federations,<br />
their coaches and officials that we are sending more<br />
competitors to the Games than ever before and there is<br />
also a belief that <strong>Qatar</strong>i athletes have a genuine chance of<br />
winning medals in a number of events.<br />
That is a real mark of progress for everybody involved<br />
in sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> and a tribute to the inspiration and<br />
leadership of HH the Emir.<br />
The <strong>Olympic</strong> Games will provide inspiration for a<br />
generation of youngsters watching around the world<br />
and I am sure that the performance of our athletes<br />
will encourage <strong>Qatar</strong>i youngsters to emulate them, by<br />
showing them that by recognising and developing your<br />
talents, anything is possible.<br />
The importance of the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games is heightened<br />
in <strong>Qatar</strong> because of the central role of sport in our<br />
country. The <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> (QOC) is<br />
responsible not only for the team which represents <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
in Beijing but for all aspects of sporting life. (QOC)<br />
is the clear link between the medal hopefuls in China<br />
and the youngsters taking their first sporting steps as<br />
participants in our schools <strong>Olympic</strong> Day programme.<br />
It is what connects the major international events<br />
which are staged in our country and the thousands of<br />
men, women and children who take part in the Aspire<br />
Active programme.<br />
We are confident that the people of <strong>Qatar</strong> will provide<br />
fantastic support to our athletes and those of other<br />
nations during the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games but the <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
<strong>Committee</strong> is determined that the focus on sport does<br />
not end with the closing ceremony.<br />
Our role is continue to provide the facilities, coaches<br />
and stimulus to encourage every <strong>Qatar</strong>i and <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
resident to make sport part of their lives, not simply as<br />
spectators but as participants.<br />
Not everybody will ever run a marathon, fewer still will<br />
complete the 100 metres in under 10 seconds. Not all of<br />
us can be a top class footballer or win a tennis title.<br />
But sport is amazingly diverse and offers most people,<br />
irrespective of age or gender, an opportunity to participate,<br />
to be part of a new and stimulating community and enjoy<br />
the health benefits of a more active lifestyle.<br />
The <strong>Olympic</strong> Games are the embodiment of sport’s<br />
role in life and goes beyond the arena itself. Despite the<br />
fact that the world is an intensely complicated place, the<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> Games represents a willingness to embrace a<br />
spirit of togetherness, where the values of sport and fair<br />
play are more important than the barriers of nationality<br />
and politics.<br />
Those are the values at the heart of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> and which drive our unchanging<br />
policy to become a welcoming host to the world’s major<br />
sports events.<br />
In the spirit of sport I would like to wish the<br />
Beijing Organising <strong>Committee</strong>, the Chinese <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
<strong>Committee</strong> and every participating <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong><br />
enjoyable and successful Games.<br />
Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani<br />
Secretary General. <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong><br />
4 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q3.08