RIYADH, 9 February 2006 — Al-Tumamah in Riyadh hosted the opening ceremony for the Second Arabian Armed Forces Skydiving Championship in the Kingdom. The championship, which started on Sunday, will run until Feb. 13.
The Sport Administration at the Armed Forces organized the championship with support from the Saudi Aviation Club. Entrance is free to the public and places for families are also available.
“Skydiving had been an interest to many Saudis in Jeddah where it first started through the annual Jeddah International Skydiving Championships. And now it became an interest to Riyadh citizens too,” said Mubarak Al-Suwailem, director at the championship technical committee.
Around 200 parachuters ranging in age from 20 to 45 are entered including a number from host Saudi Arabia. The other countries represented are Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Yemen. The championship features two contests namely landing on the target from 5,000 feet high and forming randomly artistic shapes from 7,000 feet high.
According to the president of the Arab Federation for the Armed Forced Sports, Saleh Al-Suwat, the purpose of this championship is not to compete. “Our logo and what we aim for is brotherhood through sport.”
The daily number of attendees during the morning is approximately 500 and increases at night. We are also looking forward that during the weekend the number will increase, said the director. Al-Suwailem said this hobby started to attract many locals as well as foreigners.
Some of these foreigners live outside the Kingdom and arrived here just to attend the championship.
