Qatar placed fifth in the overall medals tally with 52 medals (16 gold, 21 silver, 15 bronze). 

Al Annabi athletes have returned to the Gulf nation with 52 medals after a hefty competition in the third GCC Games in Kuwait.

Overall, the country placed fifth in medals tally with 16 gold, 21 silver, 15 bronze in the six-nation event. Kuwait earned the first spot with an exceptional record of 96 medals (36, 28, 32), followed by Bahrain with 64 medals (20, 23, 21), UAE finished with 50 medals  (18, 16, 16) and finally Saudi Arabia with 67 medals (16, 22, 29).

Almost 1,700 participants from six GCC countries are competing in 16 different sports in the event, including handball, volleyball, basketball, futsal, swimming, athletics, shooting, karate, judo, tennis, cycling, and ice hockey, table tennis, padel, and e-sports.

Doha saw around 173 athletes competing in all the categories in the games except for futsal and ice hockey.

This year’s edition of the GCC Olympic Games features a number of firsts for the competition, the most notable of which is female athletes competing for the first time in the competition’s history.

Clinching the opportunity to flauent her skill, Qatar’s Samar Mansouri made history by winning the country’s first ever gold in the women’s pole vault on the opening day of the GCC Games.

On the men’s side, the athletes gave an exceptional performance in many categories. In volleyball, the team set a new record by winning the tournament without losing a single game.

Last day recap

The Qatari handball team ended their campaign with a stunning 29-28 victory over Bahrain in the final match of the round-robin event, which featured five teams. Mohammed Abdulmajeed scored six goals to place Qatar in the lead Qatar, while Amir Denguir and Anis Zouaoui scored five goals each.

As exceptional as ever, Al Annabi came out on top following an unbroken run after winning four of their matches.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s first gold medal on closing day went to fencers Ali Owaida, Abdalla Khalifa, and Khaled Hussein, who won the men’s foil team title, defeating Kuwait 45-38 in the final.

In the semi-finals, Qatar defeated Bahrain 45-33.

Doha’s tennis athletes Mousa Shannan, Rashed Nawaf, Mubarak Shanan and Issa Shannan secured another silver medal for their country after bagging a 2-0 win over Bahrain in their last round-robin match.

The GCC Games were first held in Bahrain in 2011 and then in Saudi Arabia in 2015.