Hammadi wins bronze, opens UAE’s account at Tokyo Paralympics

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
 
Mohamed Al Hammadi won the bronze medal in a T34 100-meter wheelchair competition to give the UAE their first medal of the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Monday.

Hammadi, who claimed his fourth Paralympic medal, clocked 15.66 sec at the Olympic Stadium to seal a spot on the podium.

"I have been preparing for the same two races that I did in Rio. This time I did a better job on the 100-meter podium. I think this is a good performance, which certainly gives a boost to my confidence for the next race,” he said.

The gold went to the world record holder Walid Ktila of Tunisia, who dominated the event in a Paralympic record time of 15.01 seconds, while Australian Rheed McCracken took silver in 15.37.

Hammadi’s team-mate Ahmed Nawad finished eighth in a field of nine in a personal best 15.99.

Hammadi won silver and bronze in the 200m and 100m respectively at London 2012 and gold in the 800m at Rio 2016.

Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, congratulated the UAE athlete.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award also hailed Hammadi on winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.