BAHRAIN, 15 February — Bahrain is the first foreign Olympic Association to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US Olympic Committee (USOC).
The MoU was signed by the president of the General Organization for Youth and Sports and the vice president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa in the presence of the US Ambassador to Bahrain, Ronald Neumann, at a press conference held at the Sheraton Hotel last week.
The MoU undertakes comprehensive co-operation between the two committees and reiterates their support of the principles of the Olympic movements. It spells out mutually agreed upon principles of the Olympic movements, sportsmanship, fair play and moral and ethical values of sport. Through this MoU, athletes from Bahrain may now travel to the US to train at various Olympic training centers. For a minimal charge of $50 per day, they will have access to resident coaches, accommodation in dormitories on site, meals, performance testing in specialized laboratories, injury treatment at their Sports Medicine Centers and use of all training and recreational facilities on site.
At the press conference, Fawaz said: “The MoU encourages ongoing communication between the two committees in regards to all aspects of sport, ranging from athlete exchanges, participation in competitions and training, exchanges of officials, trainers, experts and scientists for their participation in seminars and courses.
“Both sides will annually submit in cooperation with their national sports federations their proposals for the exchange of sports delegations and other projects in the framework of this agreement for the following calendar year and agree on the necessary arrangements,” he said.
In conformity of the international fight against doping, the parties obligate themselves individually and operatively to work against doping abuse nationally and internationally.
The MoU will be effective for three years.
“By co-operating at this official level, the Bahrain Olympic Committee is forging a relationship that will benefit our athletes that have shown the greatest potential in Olympic sports. The US is internationally recognized leaders in the field of sports development and we are delighted that Bahrain can now share the knowledge and facilities that have produced champions. We see this as a major step towards producing our own Olympic medal winners in the future,” said Fawaz.
The centers that Bahrain athletes will now be able to attend are:
The Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado that will offer training in swimming, cycling, shooting, basketball, volleyball and badminton.
The ARCO Training Center in Chula Vista California will offer track and field, tennis and archery.
The US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York offers opportunities to train in team handball, taekwando, judo, water polo, boxing, wrestling, synchronized swimming, rowing, canoe and kayaking, and various disabled sports in addition to all winter sports.
The Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University in Marquette Michigan will be available to train high performance athletes while attending school.
“This development will have a significant impact on our continuing preparations for our athletes who will attend the forthcoming Busan Asian Games, taking place in Korea in September and October,” concluded Fawaz.
Prime Minister receives volleyball teams
The Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, received on Monday the President of the General Organization for Youth and Sports, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and the head of Arab and Bahrain Volleyball Unions, Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Rashid Al Khalifa, the board chairman of Muharraq Club, members of the board of the Arab Volleyball Federation, heads of participating clubs, and members of the committee which organised the 21st GCC Volleyball Championhips for the Cup of the prime minister.
The Prime Minister welcomed the guests, and wished the tournament success.
He also affirmed the benefits of such events in strengthening the co-operation between the youth in all the GCC states.
The heads of the participating delegations extended their sincere thanks and appreciation to the prime minister for his care and support, and for the preparations and efforts made by the government to host the tournament.
Shadow Boxer lifts Crown Prince Cup
Shadow Boxer proved his pedigree on Monday scoring a splendid five-length victory over favorite Sarajevo to claim the prestigious Crown Prince Cup for locally bred Group One horses at Sakhir.
The race was a thriller, as expected, pitting two of Bahrain’s best colts — Sarajevo and Shadow Boxer. If past performance was in favor of Sarajevo, Shadow Boxer’s recent record and reputation had the trainers fancy him for the most important race of the season before the Amiri Cup which is scheduled for next month.
In the end it turned out to be a two-horse race with Sarajevo setting the pace and leading till the 1,200 mark in this 2,000 meter race which had a cash prize of BD7,000 at stake.
But Sarajevo was not as race fit as Shadow Boxer and it began to show in the last two furlongs when the favourite began to run out of steam despite jockey Nader Abdul Aziz’s best efforts.
Ahmed Akbar seized the opportunity at this stage and pushed Shadow Boxer to the limits. The colt just sprinted away to a brilliant five-length victory and top prize of BD4,450 for his owner Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
It was a memorable day for trainer James Naylor as well as his horses swept the race finishing 1-2-3-4. Bracken was third, six lenghts behind Sarajevo while Pocket Rocket was fourth.
In the first race of the day for the Crown Prince Cup for Arabian Horses Shuwaimaan 1004 claimed the top prize of BD2,275 while unfancied Waafyeh finished on top for a prize of BD2,350 in the Al Muzdaher Farm-sponsored Bahrain Oaks. Another unfancied horse Lunawa claimed the top prize of BD2,900 in the race for the Bahrain Silver Cup.
