Ahmed Al-Maktoum with Olympic Gold in Athens 2004 – from:emirates247.com
Article by John Manenti
Dubai, a sort of Paradise in the world‘s collective imaginationsynonymous with wealth and opulence, as well as a destination for wealthy tourists who do not want to miss the scenarios offered to them, frequenting the prestigious – as well as, for many budgets, unattainable – luxury hotels such as the characteristic “Burj al-Arab” with its particular sail shape that make it one of the symbols of the city, like the Dubai Mall, the second largest Mall of the planet with its 1200 shops …
Yes, but what does the city of Dubai, the capital of the emirate of the same name, have to do with a site dealing with sports disciplines, you may ask, and the answer is not long in coming …
And yes, because Dubai is not autonomous, but part of one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, the largest of which is Abu Dhabiwhile the others are Ajman, Fujaira, Ras al-Khaima, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaywayn, although, in fact, every decision of major importance is taken by the representatives of Dubai and Abu Dhabi …
United Arab Emirates which, therefore, they also take part under this name in major international events, obviously starting with the Olympicswhere they make their debut at the Los Angeles 1984 edition, despite having been established since the beginning of December 1971, but their presence is absolutely impalpable, both in terms of number of participants and, even more, in terms of results.
And, moreover, Sport is certainly not a main activity in these latitudes, if one excepts the practice of Cricket as a legacy of British hegemony and Football, with the best result being reaching the 1996 Asian Cup Finalonly to be defeated on penalties by arch-rivals Saudi Arabia…
Since, as mentioned, we are dealing with realities in which financial possibilities are certainly not lacking, the Emirs invest in other types of Disciplines, first of all horse racing, a passion cultivated mainly by the Sheikhs of Dubai belonging to the Al Maktoum family, with one of these, namely Hamdan bin Rashid, having founded the Stable in 1981”Shadwell Racing”, whose horses have won all the most prestigious races in the United Kingdom, as well as other excursions to France, Australia and the United States.
Similarly, in 2009, the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, manages to fulfill the dream of even bringing the Formula 1 circuit to his countrywith a Grand Prix held on the Yas Marina circuit, winding through golf courses, theme parks and, we would almost obviously say, extra-luxury hotels …
It is therefore evident that the Olympic spirit is ill suited to the customs and lifestyle of the Sheikhswith the related participation in the Games being nothing more than an act of “dutiful homage” at the largest world sporting event, not caring about designing a study for the growth and enhancement of the various disciplines, so much so that one would never have thought of a representative of that country capable of getting on the top step of the podium, if it weren’t That …
Yes, because the scions of the various dynasties, as happens to those who don’t know how to use their time, get bored in the long run, and it must be more or less what happened to the protagonist of our history today, namely the Scheicco Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Asher Al-Maktoum – which for convenience we will call “simply” Ahmad Al-Maktoum – one of the many descendants of the Rulers of the Emirate of Dubai.
This one, born in Dubai the end of the year 1963 and “distant relative” of the current Ruler of Dubaihe delighted in the practice of squash in his adolescence (certainly not an Olympic sport …), and then dedicate himself only at the age of 35 to clay pigeon shooting, Olympic Pit (or Trap, in the English sense …) and Double Trap specialties – the difference is that in the first, it is necessary to hit a clay pigeon thrown from the bottom upwards with an unknown trajectory, having two shots available, while in the second the shots available are the same, but intended to destroy two clay pigeons – demonstrating moreover a natural predisposition, given that at the World Cup in Tampere 1999, Ahmed Al-Maktoum takes an honorable seventh placefailing to qualify for the six-man Final by just one target …
This leads him to debut in the Olympic Panorama at the following “Millennium Gamesin Sydney 2000enrolled in both tests, however with disappointing results, given that he ranks 18th in Trap and even 23rd in Double Trap, but it is a positive experience that Al-Maktoum puts to good use in the following four years.
A path of growth crowned in the 2003 season which sees the almost 40-year-old Ahmed give his best in the Double Trap, during which he won the stages of Lonato and New Delhi of the World Cup, in addition to the Final of the same in Romewhile ai World Championships in Nicosia he ranks fourth with a total of 187 points, just two lengths from the Indian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathorein the race won by the American Walton Eller, to precede (192 to 191) the Australian Russell Mark, Gold in Atlanta 1996 and silver four years later in Sidney …
An Al-Maktoum, therefore, with all the credentials to at least be able to aspire to the podium at the Athens 2004 Gameswhose program foresees first the dispute of the race of Trap, with the preliminary rounds to take place on August 14, 2004 for the first three series, at the end of which Al-Maktoum is in third position with 73 points out of the maximum 75 obtainablepreceded by the Russian Alexey Alipov and the blue Giovanni Pellielo, both at an altitude of 74.
The following day, the two subsequent decisive series to qualify the best six in the standings for the last series of 35 shots, see the representative of the Emirates make two errors, which make him slip into fourth position on a par with the Australian Adam Vella and the Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Mudhaf with a total of 121 valid shotsposition maintained even after the last series, failing for just one shot (145 to 144) from Vella what would have been the first Olympic podium for his countrywhile the Gold is won by Alipov to precede (149 to 146) our standard bearer …
A result, bitterness aside, nonetheless encouraging for Al-Maktoum who, two days later, returns to the range for what, moreover, is his favorite specialtywith the race taking place over a single day, with qualifying in the morning of 17 August and the six-a-side Final in the afternoon.
With the score acquired in the preliminary rounds – consisting of three series of 50 targets each – valid for the final classification, here is Ahmed Al-Maktoum built his triumph already in the morning, when he finished firmly in first position with 144 points (fruit of three uniform series with 48 clay pigeons hit out of 50 …) ed a margin of 6 points over the Swedish Hakan Dahlby and 7 over the Chinese Wang Zhangcertainly reassuring in view of the afternoon session, consisting of only the fourth and last series with another 50 clay pigeons available …
Now, hypothesizing that a shooter who has missed only 6 shots out of 150, can miss the same number out of just 50 at his disposal is rather improbable, even if the tension is at the highest levels in these cases, as demonstrates the fact that, despite Al-Maktoum hitting only 45 targets, he still proves to be better than his opponents, with Dahlby in particular getting caught up in emotion so much so that he even slipped into fifth position …
Ahmed Al-Maktoum therefore increases his advantage, which brings him to a total of 189 points equaling the Olympic record established by Mark eight years earlier in Atlanta, meanwhile the Asian triumph is completed by the silver with 179 points captured by Rathore who, with his 44 valid shots, manages to precede Wang by only one point.
And so, for the first and so far only time, the anthem of the United Arab Emirates also sounds at an award ceremony in the Olympic Panorama …
One would think that, for a possible encore, it is necessary that another “noble scion” decides to dedicate himself to a Discipline included in the Five Circles Program, even if it will not be easy …
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