DUBAI (Aletihad)
The UAE’s medal tally at the 16th Fazza Para Athletics Grand Prix – Dubai 2025 has reached 18, with seven gold medals, showcasing a strong performance from the nation’s athletes who added three gold medals on the penultimate day of the event.
Siham Al Rasheedy, Sara Al Jneibi and Abdalla Al Marzooqi added to the tally in the golden metal, putting the UAE in third place, behind India and Saudi Arabia with eight golds each.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the season-opening Grand Prix is seeing competition by around 400 para-athletes from 52 nations.
It was an emotional moment for Al Rasheedy as she clinched the women’s discus F52-57 gold medal when she hurled the discus to a distance of 22.96 metres to take the gold at her home ground – the Dubai Club for People of Determination.
Al Rasheedy, a 43-year-old trainee at the Dubai Club, has been a regular to the Fazza Para Athletics Championships since its inception and has won several medals at the event in the past. But this year’s staging has been special.
She was cheered by her family from the stadium stands. “It was a proud and emotional moment for me as my mother and my son [Abdullah] were cheering for me from the stands,” said a teary-eyed Al Rasheedy, who is also a Para Badminton player in Wheelchair WH2 category and aims to improve her rankings this year.
“They were shouting for me – it inspired me a lot to win the gold today. I am so happy to start the season with a success.”
Al Rasheedy was joined by two more Emirati players on the top of the podium including Sara Al Jneibi, the Rio 2026 Paralympic bronze medallist and Abdalla Al Marzooqi as UAE’s god medals reached seven.
Al Jneibi claimed the fifth gold medal for the host nation with an effort of 5.22m in women’s shot put F32/33 final. Emirati Thekra Al Kaabi, who already has a gold at the event, finished fourth in the same event.
Meanwhile, Al Marzooqi claimed the gold medal in the men’s 100m T71/72 final, finishing the race in 24.65 seconds.
Promising Mohamad Othman continued to make the most of his good form taking the bronze in men’s 400m wheelchair T34 final. He touched the finishing line in 51.23s.
Among the top names, Swiss legend Marcel Hug continued his good form at the venue. He finished the men’s 800m wheelchair T53/54 race in 1:34.21 to take his third gold medal.
Hug’s compatriot Patricia Eachus won her second medal at the championships clinching the top place in women’s 800m wheelchair T54 final in 1:50.78s.
Greece’s two-time Paralympic champion Athanasios Ghavelas kicked off the season with a gold in the men’s 100m T11, despite a fall at the start of the race. “The World Championship in New Delhi is the target for me this year.”