Two Emirati athletes entered the record books on Wednesday by winning the UAE’s first medals at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
Abdullah Al Nuaimi won a gold medal for snowboarding and Mina Al Mazrouei secured bronze, also for snowboarding.
The UAE has sent 11 athletes with intellectual disabilities to the week-long inclusive international event that uses sport as a platform to break barriers and shatter preconceived notions about people with special needs.
Posting celebratory video footage and photos on social media, the UAE team congratulated the medallists and described the moment as one that encapsulated “unity and sportsmanship”. The team also expressed pride in the hard work, consistency and effort it took to qualify for the Games.
“We are incredibly proud of Abdulla Al Nuaimi and Meena Al Mazrouei’s outstanding performances at this year's Special Olympics World Winter Games,” Talal Al Hashemi, national director of Special Olympics UAE, said. “These medals are a testament to their perseverance and the consistent support of our wise leadership for people of determination. Their success represents the spirit and values of the UAE, and we are confident they will continue to achieve great things as the Games progress.”
Moment of pride
The two medals are the first won by any team from the Middle East and North Africa region in the Games, which end on March 15, the Special Olympics UAE team said.
Mr Al Nuaimi, 23, represents the Ras Al Khaimah Club for People of Determination and Ms Al Mazrouei, 23, is from the Abu Dhabi Club for People of Determination.
The UAE team is competing in six disciplines: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, figure skating and short-track speedskating. This is the first time the UAE has sent a team to compete in the Games. In total, 1,500 athletes competing represent 102 delegations.
Local clubs for people with special needs help support families with children who have intellectual disabilities by providing consistent support, access to training and equipment.
Opening up sport
The UAE athletes, many of whom are competing in a major sporting event for the first time, have been training for more than a year on ski slopes, snow parks and skating rinks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. They were selected from more than 70 athletes from across the country who took part in trials over six months between 2023 and 2024.
Their participation is part of the UAE’s aim to develop a winter sport culture for families with children with disabilities with the best training facilities available for athletes.
The country’s Special Olympics sports federation has said will continue to work with athletes with disabilities so they can access opportunities in all sports and are able to obtain technical expertise from world-class coaches.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RACE CARD AND SELECTIONS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
The National selections
5pm: RB Hot Spot
5.30pm: Dahess D’Arabie
6pm: Taamol
6.30pm: Rmmas
7pm: RB Seqondtonone
7.30pm: AF Mouthirah
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The years Ramadan fell in May
