JEDDAH, 28 August 2004 — Saudi Arabia’s Kamal Bahamdan was the only Arab horseman to qualify for the final round of the Olympic equestrian race in Athens. Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, head of the Kingdom’s delegation to Olympics, said Riyadh was pinning great hopes on the 34-year-old rider.
Other Arab riders, Jordanian Ibrahim Basharat, Saudi Ramzi Al-Dahami and Egyptian Saleh Andre Sakakini dropped out after the three qualifying rounds, which ended on Wednesday. Forty-five outstanding riders from a total of 77 qualified.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, Bahamdan said he reached the final round after clearing many obstacles. His seven-year-old horse, Campus, which he bought two years ago to prepare for Athens Olympics, fell sick, forcing him to ride on 14-year-old Casita. “I followed a step-by-step policy to reach the finals,” the Arabic daily quoted the Saudi equestrian champion as saying. “I trained intensely in order to reach the final round,” he added.
This is Bahamdan’s third appearance in the Olympics. He had taken part in the previous two Olympics — the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2000 Sydney Games. He took first place in the 1999 Grand Prix Fleet Jumper Classic and finished second in the 1999 Valkenswaard International Derby.
In addition to being a world-class equestrian, Bahamdan is a graduate of the College of Engineering at Boston University (he graduated in 1994 with a BS in manufacturing engineering). He is also a successful venture capitalist. In 1995, he co-founded BV Global Partners, a $150 million private equity fund that invests in technology start-ups and other venture groups. The soft-spoken Bahamdan credits his parents for setting him on the road to success. “My father is one of those people who believes that if you want to do something, you have to go all the way,” the BU College of Engineering Magazine quoted him as saying.
Bahamdan discovered a passion for horses when he was just seven years old. “I had my first dirt bike and was treating it like a horse - it had a name and everything. So my parents decided to get me a real horse and sent me to riding school,” he told the magazine.
