His Majesty the King’s Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman, Bahrain Olympic Committee President and Bahrain Royal Endurance Team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa hailed the support of His Majesty King Hamad after claiming an unprecedented third place and topping the list of Arab jockeys at the World Endurance Championships in Slovakia.
Shaikh Nasser said that the achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the support of His Majesty. He said this success added to the kingdom’s honorable accomplishments in the field of sport.
“The World Endurance Championships in Slovakia is considered one of the toughest races, not just because of the weather conditions but also due to the enormous challenges the jockeys face during the race. However, thanks to the support of His Majesty the King and to our determination to honor the kingdom in such a big event, we managed to grab the desired results,” Shaikh Nasser said.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sport held a closing ceremony where the winners were given their awards. Shaikh Nasser was crowned with third place medal and the first place winner among the Arab jockeys.
Shaikh Nasser finished behind the Spanish duo of Jaume Punti and Alex Luque who came first and second respectively in the event. The winning trio of the podium places were followed by another Bahraini jockey – Raed Mahmood who came fourth. In the team category, the Spanish team came first, followed by France and Netherlands.
Jockey Mahmood said that the Bahrain Royal Endurance Team’s success was a result of His Majesty’s support to the team and Shaikh Nasser.
Guidance
“Thanks to the leadership of Shaikh Nasser, we were able to grab such impressive results in this prestigious race. Shaikh Nasser encouraged us to give our best though we weren’t familiar with the field in the race. But we promised to give our best performance, and our efforts proved fruitful in the end. The last stage of the race was very tense for me, but the invaluable guidance of Shaikh Nasser enabled me to finish fourth,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) General Secretary Abdulrahman Askar congratulated His Majesty and the leadership of Bahrain for Shaikh Nasser’s achievement.
Askar extended hearty congratulations to Shaikh Nasser on this achievement, which adds to his record of accomplishments. He also hailed Bahrain Royal Endurance Team’s jockeys for the honourable result, lauding Shaikh Nasser’s skills during the event that allowed him to surpass world’s elite jockeys.