The UAE ladies weightlifting team clinched one of the six available qualifying spots for the London 2012 Olympics after some impressive performances at the Asian Championship in South Korea earlier this week.
The team led by coach Najwan Al Ziwawy and comprised of young weightlifters Yasmin Abbas, Alanood Faraj, Khadija Mohammad, Latifa Al Marri, Alia Al Balooshi and Abeer Faraj, made history for the UAE to become the first Emirati females to book a spot at the Games through qualifying, not through a wildcard invitation.
Despite the young age of the weightlifters – the oldest are 20-year-olds Al Balooshi and Abbas, and the youngest is 13-year-old Abeer Faraj – the Emiratis managed to do enough to book a place in London along with Malaysia, Syria, Uzbekistan, India and Indonesia.
“We are extremely proud by this historic achievement,” UAE Weightlifting Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Mejren told Sport360°.
“This is the first ever UAE female team to qualify to the Olympics and it’s such a massive achievement considering how young they are and the fact that women were only introduced to this sport in our country three years ago.
“We placed fifth amongst 15 countries. Teams who have been in the sport for 20 or 30 years. We earned one individual spot, but we earned it as a result of the collective effort of a team. These girls are very young teenagers which shows that they have a great future ahead of them.”
It is yet to be decided which girl will be representing the UAE in London but Bin Mejren said the team will continue training at the Al Shabab Club and some of the weightlifters will be travelling to Chile next month to compete in the Panamerican & South-American Youth Championships, after which the decision will be made.
The UAE men’s team did not seal a qualification spot but 18-year-old weightlifter Omar Khalifa showed lots of promise, lifting a total of 249 in the 77kg class.
Petition approved
Meanwhile, the petition to allow the Emirati team compete in Islamic attire, handed in by Sheikh Sultan bin Mejren, has been approved by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in all official and international competitions including the Olympic Games.
The decision was unanimous across the board members of the IWF, who said this will allow the sport to spread amongst all Islamic countries, who have shown lots of talent in the field.
The IWF however said the competitors must wear clothes that would not hinder their ability to lift weights and should resemble a sports outfit, encouraging sportswear companies to produce Islamic-appropriate attire.
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