As Rio 2016 concludes, medal winners are returning to their home countries to celebrate with their countrymen and women. There will be commiserations, too, for those who did not succeed this time around, and preparations for the next Olympics in Tokyo 2020. That is also where our attention needs to turn. The most important question for the UAE is what can be learnt from this Olympics?
This year, 13 athletes have represented the country in six different disciplines. One of them won a medal. Sergiu Toma claimed a bronze medal after beating Italian Matteo Marconcini in an 81kg judoka match, making him the second Olympic medallist in our history.
While this medal is worth celebrating, the overall result for the UAE has not always lived up to hopes and expectations. As Maj Gen Ahmed Al Raisi, chairman of the Olympic Planning Committee, rightly said, in order to improve on our performance in Rio, the country must start preparing for the next Olympic events right now, by having a long-term strategy that puts more focus on developing school sports and nurturing young talent.
That strategy needs to focus on what the UAE has natural strengths in, must identify opportunities to build on and target specific sports. For example, shooting is part of the UAE’s tradition. Our first Olympic medal was achieved by shooter Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, who took double trap gold in Athens in 2004.
Similarly, we could concentrate on a number of year-round, indoor sports, such as swimming, cycling and martial arts, and examine how other countries around the world have successfully targeted specific sports and years later achieved great success at the summer games. Recognising and developing young talent is also very important. A successful sports programme brings many benefits: it will inspire generations to lead an active life, to become professional athletes and to participate in and be competitive at big international events, such as the Olympics.
