Bahrain’s Olympic officials are confident they will send the country’s best-ever team to this year’s Paris Games, which began on Friday.
Bahrain’s Ethiopian-born Mariam Yusuf Jamal won gold in 2012. [Getty/achive]
Bahrain’s Olympic chief is confident he will send his best team yet to Paris and, although success will again be heavily reliant on athletics, there are high hopes of winning their first medal outside of athletics.
The Gulf nation will compete in Paris with 14 athletes, both men and women, most of whom – eight runners – were born outside the country.
“We have an extraordinary group of the greatest athletes of all time representing Bahrain in Paris,” Sheikh Issa bin Ali bin Khalifa, vice president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, told Reuters.
“Bahrain performed well in the last Asian Games, winning a total of 12 gold medals, three silver and five bronze medals, which confirms that they have a strong foundation and positive indicators to win medals in Paris.”
All four of Bahrain’s Olympic medals have come in track and field, with two gold medals won by Ethiopian-born Mariam Yusuf Jamal in 2012 and Kenya-born Ruth Jebet in Rio four years later.
Fellow Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi will be one of the favourites to win the women’s 3,000m hurdles after being crowned world champion in 2023.
The Russian freestyle wrestler in Paris is also a foreigner: Russian-born wrestler Ahmed Tazdinov won the men’s 97 kg world title last year.
“Tazdinov is preparing well for the Olympics and we hope to add an Olympic medal to Bahrain’s medal tally,” said Bahrain Wrestling Federation President Abdulredda Abdulhussein Haji.
“We are all optimistic that he will do well in Paris after winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Belgrade. He was in great form this year and last year.”
