17 Aug 2016
Doha, 17 August 2016. The wait for Qatar’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics is over. On the night of August 16, Mutaz Essa Barshim claimed silver in the high jump event and is going to bring home another Olympic medal after the bronze he earned at the 2012 Olympics in London. For Markus Egger, Acting Director of Sport at Aspire Academy, Mutaz’ latest achievement is the latest success of an Olympic dream that began four years ago.
“This silver medal is a great achievement for Mutaz and his team,” Egger explained. “It is the result of a lot of hard and diligent work by a highly gifted athlete and his coach, Stanislaw Szczyrba. The relationship between a coach and an athlete is the most important one in sports and they have proven many times that they are a very successful team. We congratulate both of them, the Qatar Athletics Federation and the Qatar Olympic Committee for this great achievement. It has made Qatar and its people very proud. Mutaz is a powerful role model for our student-athletes at Aspire Academy – they look up to him and he is proof that you can achieve great things if you prepare well in the right environment. Mutaz inspires a whole new generation of young Qatari athletes.”
Looking at what the future might have in store for Mutaz, Egger is convinced that this medal will provide even more motivation for the 25-year-old Qatari ahead of the competitions to come. “Mutaz is a very focused athlete who always gives one hundred percent. Winning silver in Rio is proof that he is on the right path and it’s an honour for us at Aspire Academy to be one of his partners in this exciting process. We are here to support him and his coach in every way possible to help them achieve their future goals.”