Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
GOLDEN girl Ruqaya Al Ghasra will be the kingdom's standard bearer holding the red and white Bahraini flag high during the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday.
And the Bahrain and Arab 100m and 200m record holder is determined to bring home a medal.
She said: "I am very excited about going to the Olympic Games in Beijing, I am hoping to make the kingdom very proud and stand out. I have worked very hard for this and hope all my efforts show."
She has qualified for both distances but is expected to compete only at 200m.
Alongside Ruqaya, world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal, former double world champion Rasheed Ramzi and leading runners Yusuf Kamel and Tarek Taher are also tipped to do well.
The 15-strong team have flown out to China accompanied by coaching staff and members of the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) ready for the official start to the Games.
Shaikh Isa bin Rashed Al Khalifa, president of the BOC, said: "The opportunity to attend the games is indeed the best gift a country can bestow on an athlete and when an athlete represents his or her country internationally, that is the best reward a country can receive for its investments in sport.
"To be a part of this spectacle is an amazing achievement in itself, it is a chance for our athletes to showcase their ability on a global stage. I would like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to our athletes who have worked so hard to get here and have made us very proud.
"As our Olympic team travels to Beijing, I along with everybody at the Bahrain Olympic Committee, wish them great success and fond memories at Beijing 2008."
The BOC was founded in 1975 under the guidance of His Majesty King Hamad.
At that time the committee was composed of 10 sport federations: gymnastics, swimming, football, basketball, volleyball, handball, weightlifting, table tennis, shooting and cycling.
On May 23, 1979, the BOC was formerly declared the National Olympic Committee of Bahrain and subsequently became part of the International Olympic Committee in July, 1979.
Serving as a regional pioneer in sport, the BOC was a founding member of the Asian Olympic Council in 1983 and in that same year helped found the International Olympic Committee's National Olympic Committee Association.
Bahrain sent administrative delegates to both the 1968 Mexico Games and the 1972 Munich Games but it was in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games that a Bahrain Olympic team of 25 was sent to represent the country in sharp shooting and swimming. Bahrain's sent 33 athletes to the Barcelona Games to take part in power games, cycling and taekwondo.
For the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Sydney Games, four athletes represented the kingdom in swimming and athletics. Nine went to Athens in 2004 and this year, 15 Bahraini athletes will compete for top honours in athletics, swimming and shooting.
Bahrain was the first country in the Arabian Gulf to have an Arab female representative in the Olympics and that has been one of the central premises of its foundation, to support and assist female candidates for key positions within the committee, General Organisation of Youth and Sports and, of course, as athletes.
The BOC's fundamental objectives are to promote the values and principles of the Olympic culture in sports and educational institutions and to develop high performance sport in Bahrain as well as 'sport for all'.
Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, BOC general secretary, said: "The number of athletes representing Bahrain at the Olympic Games has varied over the years but the committee has grown from strength to strength.
"Months before Beijing 2008, we are already looking beyond and exploring various options on how to continue to support our current athletes and develop the next generation of Bahrain athletes.
"Our objectives are two-fold; support to our current athletes and the implementation of a comprehensive talent identification programme that will ensure Bahrain has a steady stream of internationally competitive athletes capable of representing us in future Olympic Games.
"To achieve both goals requires partnerships between the committee and various local stakeholders of sport and funding. The General Organisation of Youth and Sport has over the years been the backbone of our establishment but we need the support also of other relevant ministries and local businesses.
"The implementation of physical education programmes within our school system, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and youth clubs is a step that can assist us to simultaneously imbed a culture of sport in our community and assist us in identifying individuals of sporting distinction.
"I believe that if we can successfully carry out these objectives, we will be in a strong position, come London 2012, to have more athletes competing for the top honours."
