(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Qatar's Olympic heroes have called for the nation to get out and join them on National Sport Day. Qatar's National Federations will be organising activities for all ages and abilities across Qatar on February 14 and Team Qatar will be present to give the public top tips and advice.
National Sport Day is an annual public holiday for the whole of Qatar to come together and celebrate sport. It provides an opportunity to try new sports, pick up old ones and have fun with friends and family.
Team Qatar's Olympians will be joining the festivities and providing inspiration and guidance following Qatar's most successful-ever Olympic and Paralympic Games last year in Rio de Janeiro.
Speaking at a media briefing held at Qatar Olympic Committee to highlight the achievements and sporting journeys of Team Qatar, Olympic weightlifter Fares Ibrahim, said: 'On National Sport Day I will be in Katara at the Weightlifting Federation activity. I ask everyone to come down to Katara and try weightlifting you might become a champion! It's a great sport to take up and you can start at any age and reap the benefits of weightlifting.
At just 18 years old, Ibrahim has already achieved outstanding success in his young career. In 2016, he finished third in the World Youth Championships, achieved eighth place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in a field of incredibly experienced athletes, and finished the year with three gold medals at the Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships. The weightlifting federation will be organising activities on National Sport Day at Katara and Fares will be on hand to meet the public and share his experiences.
Further Olympians and Paralympians will be joining the National Sport Day celebrations across Doha. History-making Paralympic silver medallists Abdulrahman Abdelqader and Sara Masoud will be at the Qatar Paralympic Association to raise awareness about the opportunities to participate in para-sport. Qatar's first-ever female Olympian, Nada Arakji, will be sharing her tips at Hamad Aquatic Centre. Rising athletics star and Ambassador from Doha's successful bid to host the 2019 World Championships in Athletics, Dalal Al Ajmi, will be joining the kids' athletics festival at Katara. Also at Katara will be captain of Qatar's 2015 World Handball Championship silver medal winning team, Abdulrazzaq Murad and Kamal Mallash, who were also part of the team that reached the quarterfinals of last year's Olympic Games.
Speaking ahead of National Sport Day, Mahmoud Zaky, said: 'Winning silver in the 2015 World Championships was an indescribable feeling. Since I've started handball this was by far the best moment for me."
"It was a big achievement and I hope we can keep achieving at this level. Handball is a very enjoyable game my advice to all is to set a goal in sport and to try to surpass that goal and to challenge yourself. Handball is the kind of sport that keeps you on the edge of your seat you never know what can happen and I urge everyone to try it and they will definitely enjoy it.
The Qatar Olympic Committee has re-started its monthly media briefings to share information about the #YallaQatar campaign, which aims to raise awareness about Team Qatar, provide an insight into their sporting careers and what it takes to become a top-level athlete, and to encourage the whole nation to unite behind them in support. Further athletes present at the briefing were shooter Sarah Mohammed and golfer, Saleh Al Kaabi.
Sarah Mohammed was a member of the Qatari team who won team silver in the skeet shooting at the recent Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait. The women's trap shooting team also won silver and a further medal came from Reem Al Sharhani, who won individual bronze in the skeet shooting. Speaking about her experiences, Sarah Mohammed said: 'The Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait was a good experience for me. It was a bit difficult because the weather was very cold at the time, which we weren't used to here, but we still managed to do well and won a silver medal in the team skeet event. Success is never guaranteed, you win some and lose some and through that you learn the true meaning of sportsmanship.
Al Kaabi achieved a career best when he finished second at the Qatar Amateur Championships in January, automatically qualifying for the Commercial Bank Masters, both which took place at Doha Golf Club.
The 22-year-old Aspire Academy graduate also recently won December's SGF Open amateur tournament in Saudi Arabia and finished third in the at November's King Hamad Trophy in Bahrain. His ambition is to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Speaking about his career, Al Kaabi said: 'The Qatar Open Tournament was a major international competition that brought together some of the very best amateur golfers from around the world. Thankfully I was able to place second in this tough competition. It was also an honour for me to compete in the Qatar Masters against the best pro golfers in the world I did my best and hope to improve even more in the future. I will compete in the Gulf championships in Bahrain 19th February which I've been preparing very hard for.
The public are able to try out shooting on National Sport Day at an open day at Lusail Shooting Range between 8.00am-1.00pm.
Golf activities will be taking place at Katara, together with handball, athletics, weightlifting, equestrian, boxing, basketball, sailing, rowing, cycling, triathlon, volleyball, air sports, karate, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, chess and rugby activities, with all national federations present. Football and further basketball activities will take place at Aspire Park, with a swimming open day taking place in Hamad Aquatic Centre.
The public can keep up to date with Team Qatar's journeys on the Qatar Olympic Committee's social media channels under the hashtag #YallaQatar. Upcoming key competitions include the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan which begins on February 19, where Qatar will have athletes competing in Curling, Ice Hockey and Speed Skating, and the CHI Al Shaqab 2017 in early March, which Team Qatar's Olympic equestrian athletes will be participating in.
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