All photos via Qatar Olympic Committee on Facebook

Nearly two dozen Qataris – 19 male and two female – are currently representing their home country at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

The athletes are competing in seven disciplines: athletics, shooting, gymnastics, equestrian, table tennis, handball and swimming.

According to the Qatar Olympic Committee, 15-year-old Rahma Al-Dulaimi, Qatar’s youngest attendee, said:

“It’s an incredible feeling to represent Qatar and I hope to push myself and do my best to make my country proud.”

The games commenced on Aug. 16 and will continue until Aug. 28.

Performance

The majority of disciplines that Qatar is representing began competing on Sunday. Athletics, however, begins today.

So far, 16-year-old swimmer Waleed Daloul has created a new Qatar record during his 100m breaststroke heat.

During the event, Daloul managed to clock 1:07.42, an improvement on the national record of 1:08.98 – a record that was previously set by Daloul himself.

However, Daloul was unable to get through the heat stages, with his competitors slipping away halfway through the race. He will still compete in the 50m breaststroke race.

Abdullah Al Sunaidi, 16, has also set a national record of scoring 609.6 points during the men’s 10m air rifle competition.

Here’s a list of the 21 athletes representing Qatar:

• Abdulrahman Al Naggar, 16 years old, table tennis – men’s singles and mixed international team;
• Abdullah Zain Al Sunaidi, 16 years old, shooting – men’s 10m air rifle;
• Hamad Al Qadi, 18 years old, equestrian – jumping individual, jumping international team (Asia);
• Walid Rafiq Daloul, 16 years old, swimming – men’s 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke;
• Idriss Moussa Yousef, 17 years old, athletics – men’s 800m;
• Rahma Aldulaimi, 15 years old, women’s artistic gymnastics; and
• Nadeen Wehdan, 17 years old, trampoline gymnastics.

Additionally, the following athletes are playing in the men’s handball team:

• Abdulaziz Helali, 18 years old;
• Bilal Lepenica, 17 years old;
• Ebrahim Ebaid, 18 years old;
• Adson Bajric, 18 years old;
• Irhad Alihodzic, 17 years old;
• Amine Guehis, 18 years old;
• Salem Braham, 18 years old;
• Amor Dhiab, 17 years old;
• Bozo Subotic, 18 years old;
• Nour Ahmed, 18 years old;
• Omar Abdelfattah, 18 years old;
• Faruk Colo, 17 years old;
• Noomen Ahmadi, 18 years old; and
• Moustafa Heiba, 17 years old.

To date, Qatar has won four bronze medals in the regular Olympic games –  the first in 1999 in athletics (1500m), the second in 2000 for weightlifting (105kg – heavyweight) and in 2012 for athletics (high jump) and shooting (skeet – 125 targets).

For those who wish to watch the games, live competitions can be streamed here. Updates are also being posted QOC’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

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