Tokyo: Oman’s talented weightlifter Amer al Khanjari is aiming high to register new records for the Sultanate in his debut presence at the 32nd Summer Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Al Khanjari, who hails from Jaalan, will start his competition in the 81kg weightlifting category on Saturday at the headquarters of the Tokyo International Forum which is located near Olympic Village.
On the other side, Oman's top star in athletics, sprinter Barakat al Harthy, concluded a domestic camp in Salalah which lasted for ten days under the supervision of the national head coach Mohammed al Hooti.
The runner, Mazoon al Alawi will join the athletics team in the last gathering in Muscat ahead of team’s departure to Tokyo on Tuesday.
The action of both Sultanate’s sprinters will begin in Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Friday as Mazoon will take part in 100 meter running preliminary competition in her second consecutive Olympic presence while in the following day Barakat will kick off his third consecutive participation in Olympic Games.
Weightlifter Amer al Khanjari will arrive in the Olympic Village on Wednesday accompanied with Iraqi coach Mazin al Badri and the administrator Youssef al Hasani.
After arrival in Tokyo, he will begin his training schedules on Thursday and Friday at the competition venue under the direct supervision of the Iraqi coach.
He aims to have better adopting with the training atmosphere in the theater designated for competitions at Tokyo International Forum.
Despite the difficulty of competitions including attendance of world ranking champions, the 21-year-old target to record promising Olympic participation in his debut with gaining experience, record advanced numbers and achieve maximum experience through right exposure against experienced and skilled weightlifters.
Historic moment
Commenting on his first historic participation in the top showpiece Olympics event, Amer said: "All athletes are looking forward to the historic moment of taking part in the Olympic Games I am very proud to be one of the representatives in the Sultanate's delegation in this edition of the Olympics in Tokyo. Despite all the current circumstances due to Covid, I will strive to provide all my technical capabilities in order to record an honorable participation for the Sultanate and to reflect the advanced technical performance of the Sultanate’s weightlifters as we managed to accomplish different achievements during the past years in various regional and Asian forums,” he added.
The Sultanate’s champion in West Asian Champion weightlifting championship faced difficulty in his preparatory for the Tokyo 2020 Games. “
“Unfortunately, the preparatory plan for the Olympiad was not executed in a proper way. I could not do my daily training for 25 days because I took the education exams for the third secondary school end of the previous month. Also, we had tried to set up an overseas camp in Georgia after the school exams period and ahead of Olympics start but due to the current circumstances and the restrictions of travel, we were not able to attend the external camp. Moreover, the local gathering was impacted again due to the total lockdown and I depended on home technical exercises to reserve my performance. However, I am confident to overcome all challenges and will deliver a successful participation for the nation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.” He pointed out.
Highlighting on his future ambitions and plans, weightlifter Amer said: “Achieving an Olympic medal for the Sultanate is my highest target in this period. I am working hard to convert this goal into the reality. Definitely, it is tough assignment and I hope to get the right environment and suitable support to shape and prepare well for the top sporting event. I can promise that I will be one of the athletes who will compete strongly in the next two upcoming editions of Olympics including Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 linked with attendance of capabilities and facilities to achieve this top goal.” He ended
Low preparatory profile!
Coach Mazin al Badri said that the actual training sessions of the weightlifter Amer began after completion of the third secondary school exams. “ We had very tight schedule for preparing of Amer to Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Our plan was to have an overseas camp in Georgia ahead of the Olympic assignment but that did not happen due to the limited period and travel restrictions due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. The preparatory program was based on the domestic camp only and again affected with total lockdown decision. Everyone know this in not enough period to shape the readiness of an athlete for Olympic. However, we hope Amer will do his best and gain the required experience from this initial Olympic participation. ,” Iraqi coach added.
Commenting on weightlifter Amer presence in the top Olympic sporting event, he responded ”I believe attendance of the promising weightlifter Amer in this showpiece event will build up his technical experience and deliver more confidence to him as he will near the top world champions. Vying closely with the top ranking weightlifters is very essential for the weightlifter to know the international technical levels and to work hard reaching his performance level. Amer’s age will enable him to attend with more experience in the forthcoming Paris 2024 Olympics and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. We are working to shape him for the future and I am confident he could do a lot for Oman to accomplish the first Olympic medal if all the success factors provided to him in the coming period,” he ended.
Issa’s underway in training sessions
Swimmer Issa Al Adawi is very keen, since his arrival in the Olympic Village on Thursday, to attend daily training session at Tokyo Aquatics Center under direct supervision of the national coach Ayman al Kulaibi and Japanese coach Kusanagi Kenta.
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