RIO DE JANEIRO // “So far I’ve been hunting for famous swimmers as if I’m hunting for Pokemon,” Nada Al Bedwawi, the 18-year-old Emirati swimmer, said of her experience of the Olympic Games in Brazil.
The 13-strong UAE delegation is sleeping in the same Athlete’s Village tower block as Jamaican sprinter and world record holder Usain Bolt, has shared a dinner table with tennis star Rafael Nadal and trained in the same pool as Michael Phelps.
Now, though, with acclimatisation and athlete-spotting over, the Games are about to begin.
Al Bedwawi was due to carry the flag into the Maracanã Stadium in the early hours of this morning, while cyclist Yousif Mirza will compete in the Men’s Road Race later today. A gruelling 241.5 kilometre contest, the race has been described by the sport’s governing body as “one of the hardest one-day events the sport has ever known”.
Mirza knows the difficulty of the task at hand, but is motivated to excel for his country.
“A very hard day lies ahead, but it will be a new experience and a good experience too, I hope,” he said. “I am really proud to be part of this event. It is big thing for me, really. I hope to represent my country well in front of all the world and show that the UAE has sports like cycling.”
The Men’s Road Race starts at 9.30am local time, which is 4.30pm UAE time.
sports@thenational.ae
