Paralympics medals for the Middle East

Mohammed Qayed Hammadi Dubai – Agencies Mohammed Qayed Hammadi of the UAE won the silver medal in the 200-metre T34 competition of the London Paralympics on Tuesday night.
Hammadi clocked a time of 29.03 seconds for his second place as Tunisia’s Walid Ktila took the gold with a world record timing of 27.98 seconds. Earlier, Hammadi had set a Paralympic record in winning his heat. Australia’s Rheed McCracken took the bronze.
Abdullah Sultan Al Aryani had, earlier on Tuesday, won the first gold for the country winning the mixed R-6-50m air rifle prone SH1.
Hammadi belongs to the Al Tiqah Club, Sharjah and is being coached by UAE national Nabil Stoker.
Aryani, who stood a chance to win another medal on Wednesday, could not produce his Day 6 form and finished sixth in the Men’s R7-50m Rifle 3 SH1 contest. Aryani’s score was 95.7 (final) for a total of 1,229.7. Sweden’s Jonas Jacobssen won the gold with a score of 100 in the final and overall 1,255.9 while Shaziri Doron of Israel picked up the silver (1,252.4) and China’s Chao Dong the bronze with 1,251.5.
UAE other shooter in this event Obaid Al Dhamani finished eight with 1225.4 points.
It was Jacobsson’s 17th gold of his career.
The 47-year-old has garnered 30 medals in nine Games since making his debut in 1980 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In this edition, he has only collected silver in his four scheduled events.
But he refound his gold-winning aim at the Royal Artillery Barracks, firing 10s all the way from his third shot to the end of the competition to successfully defend the title he won four years ago in Beijing.
Jacobsson, a wheelchair user and paralysed since birth, celebrated to loud cheers from Swedish fans in the crowd and said he was delighted with yet another win.
“It was amazing. I didn’t really believe that I could do it but it was the power to win. It’s been tough, for the last four months I wasn’t shooting my best but I did it,” he said.
The other UAE medal hopefuls in the men’s shot put F32/33, Ahmed Al Housani and Abdul Asiz Al Shekaili could not match the Algerians who made a clean sweep taking the top three spots.
Kamel Kardjena won the gold with a record of 997 points and a throw of 12.14 metres while his compatriot Karim Betina won the silver (976 points and 10.37m) and Mounir Bakiri the bronze (929 and 9.49m).
Housani throw was 8.89m for a total of 800 while Shekaili did not contest.
Another UAE athlete Bani Hashem, 27, missed out on reaching the final in the wheelchair 100m T53 finals.
Hashem had a personal best time of 16.01 to finish fourth in his heat but was ranked ninth overall and missed out on advancing to the final.
“I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t go into the finals. It would have been a good day had I made it,” said Hashem, but added that he was happy that Aryani had won the gold and made it a proud day not only for him but for the whole UAE.
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE, congratulated the athletes who brought glory to the country.
In a telephone conversation with the performers, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, congratulated them on their victory.
Sheikh Hamdan expressed his best wishes for all members of the UAE’s mission to London in winning more championships and raising the profile of the UAE’s national sport at international events.
Hamdan, along with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces hailed Sheikh Khalifa’s support to the athletes who are taking part in Paralympics.
The president and member of the Handicapped Association also congratulated the winners and said that the efforts of four long years were crowned with medals in London.
ZANARDI WINS GOLD
Meanwhile former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi of Italy has won the gold medal in the 16-km handcycling time trial at the 2012 London Paralympics.
The two-time CART champion who lost both legs in 2001 race car crash in Germany posted a time of 24 minutes, 50.22 seconds.
German Norbert Mossandl took silver with a time of 25 minutes, 17.40 seconds.
Beijing gold medal winner Oscar Sanchez of the United States, a former US Marine who injured his spinal cord in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident in 2001, finished in third in 25 minutes, 35.36 seconds.
Powered by the arms, a hand cycle has two coasting rear wheels and one steerable front wheel.
Britain’s Sarah Storey on Wednesday clinched her third gold medal of the Games, taking the Paralympic women’s individual C5 time-trial title after double success on the track.
The 34-year-old rider won the C5 individual 3km pursuit in the Velodrome last week to open the host nation’s gold account then followed up with victory in the C4/5 500m time-trial.
But she said the hard work she has put in for the road events has paid off, as she again pushed Poland’s Anna Harkowska into silver, just as she did on the track.
“I spent so much time on the road this year. The road is where all my preparation has been done, so I needed to nail this one,” she told reporters at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, southeast England.
The circuit will provide an emotional return for Italy’s Alessandro Zanardi, a former Formula One, Indy car and touring car driver, who was critically injured and had to have both legs amputated after a horror smash in 2001.
He goes in the men’s individual H4 (handcycle) time trial.
Storey’s victory comes after Olympic success for Britain’s cyclists, notably for the country’s first Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, who took the men’s time-trial on the streets around Hampton Court palace, west of London.
“I just wanted to make sure I added my name to that list of success. I just can’t believe it,” she added after the 16km race against the clock.
“The power was there today. I was a bit worried about the cadence. I think the cadence was probably a bit high today but it didn’t matter.”