Team Qatar, led by bronze medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan from Tokyo 2020, is aiming for another medal at Paris 2024.
The Qatar national beach volleyball team departed Doha on Saturday, heading to the French capital, Paris, in preparation for their participation in the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which will kick off from July 26 to August 11.
They are led by stars Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, the duo who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Younousse and Tijan, ranked 15th in the FIVA classification for the Paris Olympics, qualified for the games last month after reaching 5800 points in 10 competitions.
The president of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, applauded the volleyball team and praised their years of hard work.
“Our national beach volleyball team qualified for the Paris 24 Olympic Games for the third year in a row and is the result of hard work and perseverance from everyone,” Sheikh Joaan wrote on platform X.
Team Qatar
As the countdown to the Olympics begins, QOC highlighted that Qatar will represent itself in five federations: athletics, volleyball, shooting, weightlifting, and swimming in Paris.
Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim, a beacon of inspiration, will lead the team as he marks his fourth Olympics appearance.
At the press conference, it was confirmed that the 33-year-old star, alongside Shahad Mohamed, the only female Qatari athlete, will carry the Qatar flag at the opening ceremony.
As a seasoned Olympian, Barshim won Olympic gold and two silver medals in 2016 and 2012, among several international achievements.
Track and field athletes Abderrahman Samba, Abubaker Haydar, Bassem Humeida, Ismail Dawood, and Ammar Ismail will join Barshim and Mohamed.
Saif Mohammed and Shahad Mohammed have also qualified for the list, with Saeed Abu Sharab and Rashid Saleh Al Adhuba competing in the shooting tournament of the Olympics.
Qatar’s weightlifter Fares Ibrahim will return to the Olympic tournament after competing in the 2016 and 2020 games.
In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Ibrahim placed eighth in the men’s 85 kg event before being updated to seventh after the original bronze medalist, Gabriel Sincraian, failed a drug test.
In 2020, Ibrahim made history after winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting.
The 26-year-old put up 177kg in the snatch before sliding into the clean and jerk, setting an Olympic record in that lift with a weight of 225kg.
Abdulaziz Al Obaidly will represent Qatar in swimming.
This summer, 10,500 athletes from over 200 national committees and a refugee team will compete in 329 events.
The event will see 10,500 athletes from 200 National Olympic Committees compete in 32 sports in 329 events at 35 venues with the presence of 20,000 media representatives and 45,000 volunteers.
There will be 754 events and 350,000 hours of television coverage.
