UAE’s Hamda Al Hosani sprints to 100m gold

Emirati sprinter Hamda Al Hosani clinched gold in the 100m race making her one of the world’s most successful Special Olympics sprinters.

In a hard-fought race, the 29-yearold was chased all of the way by Bahraini athlete Aysha Alsubei. It was a sweet revenge for the Emirati as on Sunday Aysha had won the 200m race whereas Hamda had to settle for silver. Hamda’s two medals at this ninth Special Olympics MENA Games takes her overall international medal count to 17. “I’m now looking forward to the 4x100m relay race on Tuesday,” Hamda said with an eye on adding to her tally.

Her mother, Zaafaran, was delighted with her daughter’s results.

“Since 2008, Hamda has collected gold medals in many of the races she enters. We had a small hiccup on Sunday but managed to get the silver, and we are very happy today to go back to our winning streak and take first place in the 100m,” Zaafaran said. “Hamda and I share every moment together, happy and sad, and we are proud of today’s win. Racing against the Bahrain team, the winner doesn’t matter – it’s a win for the Gulf.”

Meanwhile, Emirati athletes with determination and their able-bodied colleagues won silver and bronze medals in a double victory for the UAE’s unified table tennis couples teams. Khaled Al Shahi, who has ID, won the silver medal with his ablebodied colleague, Nawaf Al Kaabi, while ID athlete Mohammed Almas was presented with bronze alongside his teammate, Yousef Al Kaabi.