Yesterday proved another fruitless and frustrating one for Emirati athletes, with Omar Juma al Salfa making the briefest of appearances in the athletics stadium, Adel Khaled struggling in his dinghy on the Yellow Sea and Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum failing to earn a late reprieve into the final 50 of the show jumping. Salfa was the UAE's only entrant in track and field and his Games lasted precisely 21 seconds, the time it took him to chase home his six opponents in heat seven of the 200 metres.
He finished last in a heat won by Nigeria's Obinna Metu in a Bird's Nest Stadium event which also featured Churandy Martina, who finished fourth to the Jamaican Usain Bolt in the 100 metres final. Khaled had a much longer day than Salfa on the Chinese high seas around the Qingdao Sailing Centre but there was little to show for it after three more races in the individual laser series. Khaled, 19, returns home with the honour of flying the UAE flag for the first time in Olympic yachting. His hopes of qualifying for today's medal race were remote before yesterday's races and they were finally extinguished when he came in last of the 42 starters in the seventh of the 10 heats.
He improved slightly in race eight to finish 39th behind Vasilij Zbogar, of Slovenia, and made more progress on his concluding voyage to come in 27th behind the New Zealander Andrew Murdoch in an event which has been dominated by the British sailor Paul Goodison. Denied a bronze medal in Athens four years ago by the narrowest of margins, Goodison is now favourite for gold and will have to sink this afternoon or finish last to allow his closest pursuer, Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren, to snatch the main prize.
Sheikha Lafita had just failed to make the cut for the final 50 of the equestrian jumping on Sunday and the unlikely occurrence of four of the riders ahead of her withdrawing and giving her a place in the jump off failed to materialise last night. The Emirates' sole remaining competitor at this Olympiad is Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid, who will begin her challenge for honours in the women's under 67kg taekwondo event on Friday.
@Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae
