Saudi pole vaulter Al-Hizam aims to inspire Kingdom’s next generation with Olympic success

Saudi pole vaulter Al-Hizam aims to inspire Kingdom’s next generation with Olympic success
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Having missed out on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Saudi athlete is determined to make his mark in Paris. (Instagram: @hussain_pv)
Saudi pole vaulter Al-Hizam aims to inspire Kingdom’s next generation with Olympic success
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Having missed out on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Saudi athlete is determined to make his mark in Paris. (Instagram: @hussain_pv)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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Saudi pole vaulter Al-Hizam aims to inspire Kingdom’s next generation with Olympic success

Saudi pole vaulter Al-Hizam aims to inspire Kingdom’s next generation with Olympic success
  • The 26-year-old earned his spot at the Paris Games after he placed among the top 32 competitors in his sport

Saudi Arabian pole vaulter Hussain Al-Hizam will, in every sense, be making a giant leap, when he makes his Olympic debut in Paris next month.

The 26-year-old, who hails from Al-Jubail in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province, earned his spot at the Games through world rankings, after he placed among the top 32 competitors in his sport.

Since March, with weekly updates from World Athletics, Al-Hizam had been optimistic about his qualification prospects. Despite initially aiming for an automatic qualification, he is content with how he made the cut and has little fear of competing at the highest level.

“I am pretty confident that I have not reached my full potential and I believe that it could all come together on that day (in Paris), that I can shock everyone. I really believe that I can do that,” Al-Hizam told Arab News from Germany, where he is doing a full body check-up with his doctor before heading to France.

Al-Hizam says it is important to ensure he is fully performance-ready and is not leaving anything to chance.

Having missed out on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Saudi athlete is determined to make his mark in Paris.

“I learned my lesson from missing the Tokyo Olympics. I should have been there, but I wasn’t following the new ranking system close enough and it was too late for me to qualify,” he said. “But I learned from that and now I am here. I am ready to show why I am here, that I can compete with the best of the best.”

Paris will be the pinnacle of Al-Hizam’s career, surpassing his performances at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, where he finished 14th and 26th.

“I am excited to be here and to be heading to Paris, but my goal is to win an Olympic medal. That’s my focus. Enjoying the journey is part of it, but I must keep my eyes on the prize — winning an Olympic medal for my country. That is the moment,” he said.

On Aug. 2, he will compete in the qualifications against pole vault’s top 32 athletes, with a place in the top 12 the requirement to advance to the final two days later, when the top three spots will be up for grabs.

Al-Hizam is familiar with rivals but is more focused on himself.

“Pole vaulting is a solitary sport. Although I keep an eye on the other competitors, my real competition is me,” he said. “I focus on improving every time, faster, higher and more powerful than my last one — that’s what I want to achieve every time I go out there. And it will be the same in Paris. Yes, the stakes are higher, the stage larger, but it’s still the same sport and the same people I compete against all year round. So the game plan is to focus on me, my mindset and my performance.

“On the day, I will keep my pre-competition routine the same. I try to eat a normal breakfast. I am assuming it will be a morning event and as we are at the track for a long period, I will pack some snacks to take with me. It can be about four hours down by the track, so I need to keep my energy up while I am there.”

Al-Hizam also has several routines that help him stay relaxed ahead of competing.

“I like to listen to some piano music before a competition. It helps me feel calm and gives me body awareness when I listen to certain rhythms,” he said. “I don’t normally watch others compete … I spend time going over my body’s movements, what I need to do, what I want to do and envisioning. The pre-competition butterflies are key. It means I am excited and if I didn’t care about a competition, then I would just hang up my spikes.”

Al-Hizam knows that pole vaulting is not among Saudi Arabia’s top sports, like football or motor racing, but he hopes that he can show aspiring athletes — the ones who may not have been pushed to pursue track and field — that it is a worthy Olympic sport.

“I would like to think I am paving the path for the next generation, more so inspiring the parents of the young kids who want to take up track and field or another sport besides football, to push their kids, give them the opportunities, feed them healthy meals and teach them the discipline to become world-class athletes,” he said. “Because we belong here, and every four years there should be more and more athletes from my home competing on this stage — really competing, showing that just because we are relatively new to the scene doesn’t mean we should be underestimated — and winning medals at the Olympics is that exact statement.

“So, my goal in winning an Olympic medal isn’t just a personal feat. I hope that the young kids of Saudi will see me, just a kid from a small town who is able to compete with the rest of the world,” Al-Hizam said. “With countries that have a long and rich Olympic history, we have the same athletic body and competitive spirit as they do, and we deserve to be here.”


AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez joins Saudi side Al-Hilal

AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez joins Saudi side Al-Hilal
Updated 11 July 2025
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AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez joins Saudi side Al-Hilal

AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez joins Saudi side Al-Hilal
  • The 27-year-old French defender joins Al-Hilal on a three-year deal

Paris: Saudi club Al-Hilal on Thursday signed AC Milan’s French full-back Theo Hernandez on a three-year contract.
The 27-year-old leaves the Serie A side in a deal worth 25 million euros ($29.2 million), Italian media report.
Hernandez has played 38 times for France with two goals, and figured in the last World Cup, including the defeat by Argentina on penalties in the 2022 final in Qatar.
Moving to the Saudi Pro League a year before the next World Cup could be considered a risk for his chances of getting called up again by coach Didier Deschamps.
But he can take encouragement that Deschamps selected N’Golo Kante for Euro 2024 whilst he was playing for another Saudi club, Al-Ittihad.
Theo is the younger brother of Paris Saint-Germain and France defender Lucas Hernandez.


Swiss move through to Euro 2025 quarterfinals with late Xhemaili goal

Swiss move through to Euro 2025 quarterfinals with late Xhemaili goal
Updated 11 July 2025
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Swiss move through to Euro 2025 quarterfinals with late Xhemaili goal

Swiss move through to Euro 2025 quarterfinals with late Xhemaili goal
  • Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time
  • The desolate Finland players collapsed to the pitch in tears at the final whistle, while the Swiss lingered after the game’s end to pose for pictures

GENEVA: Switzerland’s Riola Xhemaili scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw with Finland on Thursday that sent the joyous hosts through to the quarterfinals at Euro 2025, and heartbroken Finland home.

Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time, and will face the winners of Group B, which would be world champions Spain as things stand now.

“I think we set ourselves a goal on the pitch, to write history, to go into the knockout stages, which we’ve never done before,” Swiss captain Lia Walti said.

Finland looked to be heading for the knockout round after Natalia Kuikka scored a penalty in the 79th minute, awarded after Viola Calligaris’s foul on Emma Koivisto. Center-back Kuikka calmly slotted home a low shot as Swiss goalkeeper Livia Peng dived the wrong way.

But, roared on by the home crowd, the Swiss kept up the attack in the breathless dying moments and Xhemaili, a second-half substitute, scored in the 92nd minute when Geraldine Reuteler mis-hit her shot on goal and Xhemaili was there to tap it in, blowing the roof off at Stade de Geneve.

“I really have to say that I didn’t think that we’re going home because I really believed in this team, until the last second, and I knew we were going to score,” Xhemaili said.

“I knew that Geraldine Reuteler, she will hit the target, of course, because she’s one of our best players, so I was like, just stay on the right spot in the right moment and wait until the ball is coming and it did.”

The desolate Finland players collapsed to the pitch in tears at the final whistle, while the Swiss lingered after the game’s end to pose for pictures and their famed manager Pia Sundhage wrapped her assistants in huge hugs.

But for most of the nervy night, the game was far from a classic, with desperation showing in both sides with the stakes sky high.

Switzerland started brightly and put Finnish goalkeeper Anna Koivunen to work early with a couple of chances. But momentum shifted midway through the half to quiet the nervous crowd and Peng made a huge save on the goal-line seconds before the break to preserve the draw.

Intensity picked up over the second half and Sundhage threw virtually every attacker on her bench into the game in search of the equalizer, with the Swiss ending the night with 15 shots to Finland’s six.

“I am going to dance tonight,” a smiling Sundhage told SRF.

Kuikka said Switzerland were the better team on the night.

“They came to the game like they wanted to win and it kind of showed,” she said.


Healy wins hilly 6th stage, Van der Poel takes yellow jersey from Pogacar at Tour de France

Healy wins hilly 6th stage, Van der Poel takes yellow jersey from Pogacar at Tour de France
Updated 11 July 2025
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Healy wins hilly 6th stage, Van der Poel takes yellow jersey from Pogacar at Tour de France

Healy wins hilly 6th stage, Van der Poel takes yellow jersey from Pogacar at Tour de France
  • The 24-year-old Healy had won a stage on the Giro d’Italia before, but this was his first victory at cycling’s showcase race
  • The Slovenian star accelerated at the end of the stage but could not quite do enough to stop the yellow jersey going to the 30-year-old Dutchman Van der Poel, who is not considered a race contender

VIRE NORMANDIE, France: Irish rider Ben Healy won a hilly sixth stage of the Tour de France after a long solo breakaway on Thursday and Mathieu van der Poel took back the yellow jersey from defending champion Tadej Pogacar by one second.

The 24-year-old Healy had won a stage on the Giro d’Italia before, but this was his first victory at cycling’s showcase race.

“A stage win in the Tour is just unbelievable, it’s what I’ve worked for,” he said. “I grew up watching the Tour and wishing one day I could just be there. Participating in the Tour is already an achievement and to win a stage is just so so amazing.”

American rider Quinn Simmons finished 2 minutes, 44 seconds behind Healy in second place and Australian Michael Storer was 2:51 back in third spot.

Van der Poel finished eighth, and Pogacar was a little further back in ninth.

Stage 6 took riders over 201.5 kilometers (125 miles) from Bayeux to Vire Normandie, featuring six minor climbs before a sharp uphill finish with a 10 percent gradient.

The Slovenian star accelerated at the end of the stage but could not quite do enough to stop the yellow jersey going to the 30-year-old Dutchman Van der Poel, who is not considered a race contender.

“I would have loved to have a bit more than one second but I’m happy to have it again,” said Van der Poel, who struggled with the heat. “I’ll try my best to recover as good as possible and then we’ll see tomorrow, but first I’m going to enjoy the yellow jersey. I will probably only have it for one day.”

Two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard finished 10th, just behind Pogacar, and is fifth overall.

The route favored allrounders and an experienced-looking eight-rider breakaway, including Stage 2 winner Van der Poel and Giro d’Italia champion Simon Yates, pulled away from the yellow jersey group around three-time Tour winner Pogacar.

Riding through rolling countryside they opened up a four-minute lead with 40 kilometers to go, which is when Healy decided to go for the stage win and pulled away from his rivals, who could not follow.

“Today’s stage really suited me, I had circled this day from the start,” Healy said. “I knew I needed to get away from the group, I think I timed it well and I caught them by surprise a little bit. Then I knew what I had to do: just put my head down.”

Friday’s stage is also hilly

Stage 7 is 197 kilometers long, starting from the port city of Saint-Malo and finishing with a climb up Mûr-de-Bretagne in Britanny’s picturesque Côtes-d’Armor department.

“When you see how Tadej is riding,” Van der Poel said, “if he attacks tomorrow, or Jonas as well, it will be very difficult not only for me but for the whole bunch to follow on this climb.”


Wenger defends Club World Cup amid Klopp criticism

Wenger defends Club World Cup amid Klopp criticism
Updated 11 July 2025
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Wenger defends Club World Cup amid Klopp criticism

Wenger defends Club World Cup amid Klopp criticism
  • Wenger: Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I don’t share Jurgen Klopp’s view at all. I feel that a Club World Cup, a REAL Club World Cup was needed
  • Wenger also pointed to the unexpectedly high attendance figures as evidence of the competition’s success

NEW YORK: Arsene Wenger has dismissed Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of FIFA’s revamped 32-team Club World Cup, calling the tournament a “fantastic competition” and emphasizing the support it has received from participating teams, players, and managers.

Klopp, the former Liverpool manager, described the expanded summer competition as “the worst idea ever invented” in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt two weeks ago. Wenger, now FIFA’s chief of Global Football Development, countered these remarks on Thursday during a FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) briefing in New York.

“Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I don’t share Jurgen Klopp’s view at all,” Wenger told reporters. “I feel that a Club World Cup, a REAL Club World Cup was needed. If you make an inquiry today with all the clubs who were here at this competition, I’m basically sure that we have 100 percent of answers of people who want to do this again. So that’s basically the best answer.”

Wenger also pointed to the unexpectedly high attendance figures as evidence of the competition’s success. “The decisive question is, do the fans like it? Attendance projections were low, but in reality, they were much higher. The answer is there,” he added.

The tournament has provided FIFA with a testing ground ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across North America. Wenger acknowledged that the summer heat in the US posed challenges but said FIFA has learned valuable lessons to address these issues.

“The heat in some games was a problem,” Wenger admitted. “We tried to combat that with cooling breaks and watering the pitches during breaks. We learned a lot on that front.”

He singled out Orlando as one of the venues where pitch conditions proved difficult, though he praised the quality of natural grass pitches overall. Philadelphia’s surface, he said, would serve as a benchmark for future competitions in the US.

Looking ahead, Wenger said FIFA is considering using covered stadiums in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Houston to host early matches in next year’s tournaments. He also revealed that FIFA analysts have studied the impact of heat on player performance, finding that temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) affect high-speed running and sprints more than overall distances covered.

“Certainly next year, there will be more roofed stadiums as we have to follow the TV schedule. We are learning to be better equipped to deal with these conditions,” Wenger said.

The inaugural 32-team Club World Cup concludes on Sunday, with Paris St. Germain taking on Chelsea in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.


Tottenham signs forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham

Tottenham signs forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham
Updated 11 July 2025
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Tottenham signs forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham

Tottenham signs forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham

LONDON: Tottenham completed the signing of Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham on Thursday and was reportedly close to adding Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White as well.
Tottenham did not disclose details of the deal for Kudus but British media said it was worth 55 million pounds . The 24-year-old Kudus scored 19 goals in 80 appearances for West Ham during a two-year spell after joining from Ajax.
Tottenham is rebuilding under new coach Thomas Frank and Gibbs-White was reportedly set to have a medical at Tottenham ahead of a proposed 60-million  transfer.
Gibbs-White joined Forest in the summer of 2022 following their promotion to the Premier League and was instrumental in delivering European football to the club for the first time since 1996, with seven goals and eight assists in 34 Premier League games this past season.