JEDDAH, 14 March 2008 — For Saudi long jump star Mohammed Al-Khuwalidi going abroad for an international competition and coming home with a medal is increasingly becoming routine. The hottest property of Saudi athletes returned from Valencia, Spain where he won the bronze medal in men’s long jump final in the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships. The achievement was a first in the history of Saudi Athletics Federation. The bronze from Spain was the latest in a string of successes that began during the 2007 season and marred only by a forgettable performance in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan.
He missed the Macau Indoor Games in 2007 because of problems with his company Saudi Aramco.
A world-class talent, Al-Khuwalidi felt he had a chance for the gold during the Valencia meet.
“I had a flu and my health condition got worse as I arrived there but because it means a lot to us and I was really aiming for the gold medal I just tried to do my best,” said Al-Khuwalidi while speaking to Arab News after arriving back home on Sunday night.
Despite failing to win the gold Al-Khuwalidi’s achievement was nothing to sniff at. “ I am proud I am the first Saudi athlete to get a medal in this world indoor event,” he said.
Having proven his moxie to excel against the world’s best, Al-Khuwalidi will attempt to win the Kingdom’s first Olympic gold medal in about five months’ time in Beijing.
Al-Khuwalidi promises to work harder to deliver the gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
But crucial to his preparation for the biggest stage in his wondrous career is the cooperation of Aramco in allowing him to freely train without threats of sanctions from work.
Prince Nawaf ibn Mohammed, president of the Saudi Athletics Federation, urged Aramco officials to be more flexible in dealing with Al-Khuwalidi and provide him the right atmosphere for training.
Of the bronze medal the prince said, “Al-Khuwalidi brought Saudi Arabia its first medal in this championship and it is an excellent beginning for him and we hope it will be an encouragement for him and for his colleagues to go further.”
Taking a dig at Aramco, Prince Nawaf said Al-Khuwalidi could have achieved even better than the bronze had Aramco cooperated more with him. “His company did not appreciate his ambitions and victories and his will to raise his country’s flag in all international events,” he said.
On the penultimate day of the championship, Al-Khuwalidi leapt over a distance of 8.01 meters to claim the bronze medal
The competition in general was strong, led by South African and British long jumpers. But Al-Khuwalidi said he had competed in far stronger events and was able to jump higher than 8.01 meters.
“There was no energy in me and I failed two attempts but since I lost my chance of winning the gold, I at least wanted to hold on tight to the bronze medal,” he said.
He also blamed jet lag and the time difference between Saudi Arabia and Valencia, which staged the events at night, for his failure to get the gold.
During the long jump final, Al-Khuwalidi did 7.79 meters in his first attempt, 7.23 meters his second, failed the third and finally 8.01 meters in his fourth try. He made two more attempts, failing in one and leaping 7.96 meters in the other as his health condition worsened..
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena of South Africa won gold medal in the event with his effort of 8.08 meters with United Kingdom’s Christopher Tomlinson taking the silver in 8.06 meters.
The other Saudi entry in the event, Hussain Al-Saba, failed to advance past the qualifying round.
Among Al-Khuwalidi’s achievements are: gold medal, 8.18 meters, 17th Asian Athletics Championship, Jordan, in 2007; gold medal, 8.19, 11th Pan Arab Games held in Egypt; gold medal, 8.24, 3rd Asian Indoor Championship in early 2008.
Al-Khuwalidi set his personal best of 8.48 meters during the first Islamic Solidarity Games which the Kingdom hosted in 2005.
