| UAE to send woman weightlifter to London |
DUBAI Weightlifter Khadija Mohammad on Thursday became only the second woman to be chosen for the United Arab Emirates Olympic team.
The athlete, who will compete in the 75kg category in London, was named after the country’s women’s weightlifters secured one place at the London Games by finishing fifth in the Asian Championships in South Korea last month.
“We are proud to belong to this historic moment when we see one of our women athletes qualify to an Olympic Games,” Moh-ammad Al Kamali, General Secretary of the UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC), told UAE newspaper Gulf News.
The only other woman to compete for the UAE since it began participating in the Olympics in 1984 was Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Beijing four years ago.
The daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister and Vice-President of the UAE, she took part in the women’s under-67 kg taekwondo.
Only Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have yet to have female athletes participate in an Olympic Games, although Brunei and Qatar are expected to send women to take part in London. Six London-bound athletes across four sports were named in a ceremony at Dubai Aquarium on Thursday.
They will form part of an expected contingent of 32 from seven sports, the country’s largest-ever representation at an Olympic Games, a UAE NOC press release said.
Reuters
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