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Double world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal is busy preparing for the most important international cross-country competition of the year in the hope of lifting spirits and bringing the community closer together in her adopted land.
The bi-annual International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) World Cross Country Championship will be held in Punta Umbria, Spain, on March 20.
Jamal, 26, said: "I am very excited and working hard to bring back a great result. I want to win for Bahrain. Let's all become one."
Her husband and coach, Tarek Yacqob Sabt, 33, is with Jamal at a special training camp in Ethiopia, back in the country they were forced to flee during political turmoil in 2004. They were granted political asylum by Bahrain in 2005 and it is a kindness the couple will never forget.
Sabt, 33, said: "Jamal and I want to win this one for the kingdom. What we want to say to Bahrain is - that whatever happens - we are all one. There shouldn't be any issues. We are all Bahraini and should unite.
"A lot of international newspapers are asking us about Bahrain and we tell them that we are all one and that sport will bring us together.
"We wish a long life to His Majesty King Hamad as he is such a good person. Jamal and I love him a lot and we believe that he has done a lot for the country. God bless him."
In 2006, Jamal won two gold medals in the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar and then in 2007 she became the first Bahraini representative to win a world championship title at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Japan, among other achievements.
Jamal specialises in the 1,500m but Sabt is confident she can make an impression in the cross-country. He said: "In 2009 she secured a gold medal in the Asian Cross-Country Race in Manama and last week received another gold in the ING Eurocross held in Luxemburg. That race marked her first debut appearance on the world stage this year."
Jamal and Sabt will be leaving for Spain on March 17 and returning to Bahrain 'inshallah with the gold' on March 22.
She is one of six Bahrain national team members competing in the senior women's 8km race. The other five are Kareema Jassim, Shama Mubarak, Tejitu Baba, Jameela Shami and Intissar Sami Lahdan.
The 12km senior men's race will be led by champion Hassan Mahboob along with Tareq Mubarak and Shawqi Jamal. The other members are Halim Jabri, Adam Younes and Dalhanne Nizar.
Bahrain will also have Ishaq Mubarak competing in the 8km junior men's race.
According to Bahrain Athletics Association's (BAA) technical manager Lounes Madene, the kingdom's athletes are in confident mood.
After the event Jamal will return to the kingdom for talks with the BAA about her future competitions and training schedule. She will then head to a training camp in Switzerland in April and then on to Japan at the beginning of August to help acclimatise two weeks before the World Championships take place in Korea.
