JEDDAH: The failure of Saudi Arabia’s Olympic team to turn in a creditable performance in the just-concluded Beijing Games has left many fans in the Kingdom asking the question what happened, and what next?
The failure of the Kingdom to land any medals in Beijing, especially after the two medals they won in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, has saddened fans, sportsmen and the general public alike.
Saudi Arabia has been participating in the Olympics Games since 1972.
But for the two medals in Sydney they have nothing to show for their efforts. Many felt that the 20 Saudi athletes, who took part in various competitions in Beijing including long and short distance races, long jump, swimming, shooting and show jumping would at least turn in a creditable performance. But only disappointment awaited the fans in the two-week extravaganza.
Sports enthusiasts are now demanding careful planning and hard training inside and outside of the Kingdom to prepare a Saudi “Olympic champion” for the next Olympic Games in London in 2012.
This is what they are calling for to compensate for Saudi Arabia’s failure to win any medals in this Games.
“We should prepare our young and talented to compete in the next Olympics through serious training, inside and outside camps, launch awareness of the needs to compete with the best and organize technical training to improve our medal-winning chances. We have to be well prepared for real participation in the Games and not just be representatives in future Games,” many of the fans polled by Arab News said.
What angered the fans more was the lack of coordination in even competing. Ali Al-Diheleb, the only weightlifter from Saudi Arabia, did not attend the weigh-in procedure on time that caused his exclusion from the Games.
He blamed his trainer for not knowing the time of the competition, while others accused him of missing the weighing-in procedure for his class as he had overslept. Though many people believe that he would not have placed among the winners in his class, they felt let down by him not making an effort to at least participate.
The Saudi fans were pinning their hopes on their five equestrian riders to make an impact. But they too were outclassed. Inadequate preparations were cited as the main reason for their poor performances.
Long jumpers Hussein Al-Sabie and teammate Muhammad Al-Khuwaildi proved no better. Al-Sabie, in press statements, apologized to his countrymen for his failure, which he attributed mainly to “bad luck.” While Al-Khuwaildi refused to hold the Saudi Athletics Federation responsible for his failure in the Olympics and requested a postponement of reasons for the debacle to another time. Both will take part in the Grand Prize Championship in Zurich next Friday.
However, people have called for the resignation of the head of Saudi Athletics Federation Prince Nawaaf ibn Muhammad and the other members while holding them responsible for the failure. “The federation failed to tackle the problems of the athletes and this contributed to the poor performances,” said Col. Hadi Al-Qahtani.
But Abdul Aziz Al-Samawi, former president of the SAF, was more forthright and said people who complain are only doing this to be in the media spotlight.
Salah Hawsawi of Al-Ahli sports club in Jeddah described the results as “disappointing” and said there were some athletes who did not fully realize the meaning of participating in the Olympic Games. He asked the officials to thoroughly study the reasons of the failure and to make plans for the next Games.
“We should embrace the example of China who has, for eight years, been preparing for the Olympics. We should make concerted efforts to prepare Saudi champions for London,” he said.
A participant in the Beijing Olympics, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the failure could not be attributed on one party. We all need to pitch in to reap a medals harvest.
The Saudi participation in the Olympics should be a national duty for everyone, he said. While supporting the project, he called on all to take this pioneering idea seriously.
