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Bahraini para athlete Amal Al Fardan brought pride to the kingdom and to herself in the West Asian Para Games as she bagged gold in shot put and registered a new personal record.
She also went on to win gold in power-lifting, javelin and discus.
The award-winning competitor kicked off the sporting festivities in style as she proudly carried the Bahraini flag high in the traditional team march during the opening ceremony in Arad Fort last week, which set the tone for the victories to come.
“I can’t even begin to describe how thrilled I was to raise my kingdom’s flag in Bahrain ... my homeland, in front of all my family, friends and teammates,” said Al Fardan, 30, from Isa Town, who was paralysed from birth.
“It was such a proud moment for me and motivated me even further to achieve success in the Games.”
It didn’t take long for inspiration to hit as Al Fardan clinched first place in the F54 shot put category, defeating four women from Kuwait and Oman.
“What a competition,” she said. “I not only won first place, but also achieved my personal best of 5.73 metres. My family was so proud and I felt like I raised their heads high as I did the Bahraini flag. They have always been my biggest fans and supporters.”
Al Fardan is no stranger to winning as she has several gold medals to her name, locally and internationally, along with a string of silver and bronze.
She also brought further delight to loved ones and the national squad for being the first Bahraini female para athlete from the Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation and Bahrain Paralympic team to compete in powerlifting in the Games.
“I was honoured to take part in that contest,” she added.
Al Fardan has been training hard for the past six months at the national stadium with athletics coach Hassan Muftah and powerlifting coach Hassan Al Dirazzi, alongside the rest of the squad, which includes her best friend and Paralympian Roba Alomari.
“I am extremely proud of Roba as she also won first place in shot put in her category,” said Al Fardan. “It’s wonderful to see my best friend achieve a great feat. We have known each other since we were six and she is the one who encouraged me to take up sports. Those days I didn’t even like sports. Then in 2012, I competed in a women’s tournament in Bahrain and was hooked. Now, I can’t live without it. I wish her and the rest of the para athletes from Bahrain and other countries, all the best!”
The West Asian Para Games featured more than 700 talents from 11 countries, including Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE. It was held across four different locations in the kingdom where competitors took part in athletics, wheelchair basketball, boccia, goalball, table tennis, power lifting and badminton.
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