GDN Media will be publishing a series of articles featuring Bahrain’s Paris 2024 athletes as the countdown continues to the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.
Our first interview is with Bahraini swimmers Amani Al Obaidli and Saud Ghali – two of the youngest members on the kingdom’s national team – who will be looking to make their mark in the French capital.
SWIMMING – Amani Al Obaidli and Saud Ghali are set to continue the tradition of Bahraini wildcards competing at the Olympics when they get into the pool at Paris La Defense Arena for the swimming events at Paris 2024.
Al Obaidli and Ghali have been selected by the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) and the Bahrain Swimming Association (BSA) to represent the kingdom at the French capital as universality entries. These are places given to nations that do not have any qualified athletes, wherein one man and one woman are granted participation in a single event each.
Paris will mark the seventh Olympics in a row in which Bahrain are sending a pair of young wildcards to take part in the popular aquatic sport of swimming, and both Al Obaidli and Ghali are excited to be soon fulfilling their sporting dreams.
“Representing Bahrain at the 2024 Paris Olympics comes with the greatest honour, pride and accomplishment,” Al Obaidli told the GDN. “I won’t just be representing myself and swimming, but also Bahrain on a global stage.
“The Olympic Games is a culmination of perseverance, commitment and hard work, and it will give me an opportunity to compete at the greatest level and display my skills to a worldwide audience.”
“It’s an indescribable feeling to represent my country,” added Ghali. “It’s a huge honour to raise the Bahrain flag at the Olympic Games.”
World Aquatics, international swimming’s governing body, introduced the universality qualification rule in 2012 when it was still known as FINA, or the International Swimming Federation. But wildcards had already been competing at the Games beforehand, with Bahrain sending its first duo to the Sydney 2000 Olympics and then at each Games ever since.
Al Obaidli and Ghali highlighted the significance of universality places for athletes from smaller countries like Bahrain.
Ghali stretches ahead of a race
“These entries are crucial to advancing inclusivity, equity and the spirit of the competition,” said 18-year-old Al Obaidli , who currently lives in Australia. “For developing sports in countries like Bahrain, universality entries provide encouragement and motivation. It gives us a chance to compete at the highest level, and I hope I can inspire future generations and foster the growth of sports within Bahrain through my participation.”
Ghali concurred, stating that the mere chance to compete is already a huge achievement. “It gives athletes hope and helps in trying to make everyone’s dream possible,” said the 19-year-old, who is based in Hungary. “Just having an opportunity is the best thing for any athlete.”
Al Obaidli recalls when she got her call to be a part of the kingdom’s Paris 2024 squad: “My mum cried when she found out, and she couldn’t get hold of me as I was in the pool training.”
Ghali says that their selection was the result of long hours of training and dedication. “It’s really hard work, not just physically, but mentally as well,” he explained. “Me being selected was really close between myself and one of my teammates, but I believed I could do it and just pushed my hardest, training two sessions per day, every day.”
Both Bahraini talents began swimming at a very young age – Al Obaidli says she first got into the water as a toddler with her family, while Ghali was a little older when he started to swim. They each excelled as budding athletes and were soon scouted by the BSA.
They began representing the kingdom in swim meets abroad, and today stand tall as champions at the Arab, Gulf, and national levels – with both also holding national records in various events.
“My first swimming lesson was when I was 10 months old with my mum; when I was three and had to go into a lesson by myself, I screamed and cried for the first few sessions; now, you can’t get me out of the water,” Al Obaidli laughed.
“I swam at my first international event in Dubai when I was just eight years old – that was also the first time I swam in an Olympic-sized pool.
“Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of representing Bahrain in numerous competitions. I won four medals at
the Arab Games in Algeria in 2023, and then I won seven medals at the Arab age-tournament in Abu Dhabi later in the year. This year, I competed again in Abu Dhabi at the GCC Youth Games and won four gold medals. I hold numerous Bahrain records in both short and long course events.”
Said Ghali: “I made it to the national team at 11, and ever since then I have loved swimming and have had a lot of ups-and-downs.
“In 2019, I got my first-ever gold medal in an Arab competition and it was also my first gold medal for my country. From then, I had always wanted to go to the Olympics.”
Al Obaidli and Ghali have been preparing for Paris 2024 with training camps in Hong Kong and Budapest, respectively. They follow a strict regimen both in and out of the water in order to stay physically and mentally ready as they aim to be in the best shape of their careers for the Olympics.
Al Obaidli is gearing up to compete in the women’s 100m backstroke in Paris while Ghali will be swimming in the men’s 200m breaststroke.
“I am working hard in the pool and the gym, and I’ve been enjoying filming my underwater and turns to see where I can improve my technical skills,” said Al Obaidli . “I train up to nine times per week and make sure I am eating correctly and getting enough rest in between sessions.”
As they get set for their Olympic experience, Al Obaidli and Ghali hope to be an inspiration for Bahrain’s future generations of athletes – some of whom may one day be Olympians themselves.
“I hope I can inspire young Bahraini children, especially girls, to go for their dreams,” said Al Obaidli . “It’s not always a straight line to where you want to go, and there may be bumps in the road, but never give up.
“I believe in saying yes to opportunities that you are presented with as these may take you places you could never imagine.”
Al Obaidli and Ghali expressed their gratitude to all those who have helped them attain their Olympic goals.
Al Obaidli reacts after a race
“I would like to thank His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the BOC, and the BSA for all the support in making my dreams come true,” Al Obaidli said.
“I would also like to thank Ahmed Abdulghaffar (the BOC executive director and Bahrain’s Chef de Mission at Paris 2024) for calling my dad a few years ago to ask me to represent Bahrain.
“I am sure without that phone call, I would have stopped swimming when I graduated last year and started university without having all these amazing experiences.”
Ghali added: “Thank you to my family and friends for believing in me. A big thanks to the BSA for always being there for me and supporting me and choosing me to be at the Olympic Games. And a huge thanks to His Highness Shaikh Nasser and His Highness Shaikh Khalid for the amazing support.”
Ghali comes off the blocks at the start of a race
Before Al Obaidli and Ghali, Bahrain’s tandem of young swimmers at previous Olympics included Noor Yusuf Taha and Abdulla Isa in Tokyo 2021, Fatema Almahmeed and Farhan Saleh in Rio 2016, Khalid Alibaba and Sara Al Flaij in London 2012, Omar Jassim and Sameera Al Bitar in Beijing 2008, Hesham Shehab and Sameera in Athens 2004, and Dawood Jassim and Fatema Hameed Gerashi at Sydney 2000.
Bahrain’s first appearance in Olympic swimming was in 1984 in Los Angeles, when Hamad Bader and Essa Fadel competed, also as wild cards.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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