Bahrain looking ahead to Olympics
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain joined the rest of the world yesterday marking 100 days until the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The highly anticipated event, which was postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to take place between July 23 and August 8 at the Japanese capital.
The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) published a post on social media commemorating yesterday’s occasion. Bahrain is expected to be among more than 200 countries taking part at the Olympics.
Bahraini athletes are so far qualified in three sports, including athletics, boxing and handball. A number of the Kingdom’s elite runners of all specialties are gearing up to compete in the track and field events at the Games.
National team boxer Denis Latypov made it into the 91kg division of men’s boxing. Latypov was ranked fifth in the Asia-Oceania qualifiers, held last March. The International Boxing Federation has approved the final list of qualified participants for Tokyo.
The senior men’s national handball team are set to make an historic appearance as the Kingdom’s first-ever participants in a team sport at any Olympics. The Bahrainis booked their berth at the Tokyo Games after winning the Men’s Asian Qualification Tournament held in Doha in October of 2019, defeating South Korea in the final.
Meanwhile, the Chef de Mission of Bahrain at the Tokyo Games has been named. Former national table tennis team star Hamad Buhijji has been appointed by the BOC to take on the role.
Buhijji expressed his deep thanks and pride in the confidence of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first vice-chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
He said that the Olympics is the largest international sporting event and noted that he will work with diligence along with the rest of the administrative mission to make Bahrain’s participation in Tokyo a success.
This includes providing all appropriate conditions for Bahrain’s athletes to achieve their best results and highest levels of performance. Buhijji also expressed his thanks to BOC secretary general Mohammed Al Nusuf, especially for his constant follow-up on the preparations for the Games.
Buhijji noted that the BOC is doing everything to help ensure the safety of the mission, which is a top priority amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. He also urged the participating sportsmen and women to get vaccinated as part of their efforts to combat the virus.
Buhijji wished all the Bahraini athletes success as they continue their preparations for the Olympics. As part of yesterday’s activities marking 100 days to the Games, the Organising Committee unveiled a giant set of Olympic rings on top of Mount Takao, which is located in Tokyo, and statues of the Olympic and Paralympic mascots at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government headquarters.
The International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission Chair John Coates said: “Following the challenges we have all faced in recent months, in 100 days’ time the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be a celebration of solidarity, of the unity of humankind in all our diversity, and of resilience.
They will show just how much stronger we are, together. “Tokyo is getting ready. We can’t wait for this truly historic occasion.”
The Olympic Torch Relay is currently ongoing. The Olympic flame will continue its journey over the next 100 days across the country’s 47 prefectures before reaching the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo for the Opening Ceremony on July 23.
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