World Weightlifting Championship signing contract ceremony.

The 2022 distinguished athletes of the year awarding ceremony

The 26th General Assembly meeting of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) approved the formation of the Audit and Internal Audit Committee of the SOPC on Sunday in the hall of the Olympic Training Center at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex in Riyadh. The event was chaired by HH President Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, and in the presence of HH, SOPC Vice-president Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, and Saudi sports federation presidents, board members, and officials.

 

Al-Otaibi for auditing and review

The general assembly approved the appointment of Yasser bin Saad Al-Otaibi as Chairman of the Audit and Internal Audit Committee and the membership of Ms Adwaa bint Abdul Rahman Al-Arifi and Moath bin Muhammad Al-Salami.

Al-Faisal: “The leadership’s support strengthened the Kingdom’s sporting position.”

The Chairman of the SOPC HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal raised thanks and appreciation for the support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the care, support and attention that they provide to the sports sector in the Kingdom, which contributed to strengthening the Kingdom’s position in sports and making it the focus of the world’s attention according to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

In HRH Alfaisal speech delivered at the opening of the association, he said that the year 2022 witnessed outstanding achievements, the most prominent of which was participation in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the achievement of 231 various medals in international and Asian events and championships, stressing that this came thanks to the support of the wise leadership as the Kingdom took steps Advanced steps locally and internationally at the level of sports hosting, which was represented by winning the hosting of the Asian Winter Games (Trojena 2029), in a new challenge for the Saudis.

HRH also indicated that the achievements of the year 2022 will not stop at this point only, and added: “Thanks to the support of HRH, the Crown Prince, we all wrote a new story for sports in the Kingdom, entitled the Saudi Games, which witnessed impressive success in its first edition, and will extend, to its next versions.”

HRH Al-Faisal expressed his full faith and certainty in the success of the first significant challenge facing Saudi sport this year, represented in the World Games for Martial Arts (Riyadh 2023), stressing that with the solidarity of all sports organizations and organizations, the tournament will come out in a manner that befits the reputation and name of the Kingdom.

The assembly, in addition, reviewed several reports, the most prominent of which was the report of the first Saudi Games, the report on the strategy to support and develop sports federations, the Saudi Olympic Training Center, the Saudi Olympic Academy, and the report of the Athletes Committee, with the adoption of a draft amendment to the statutes of the Saudi Sports Arbitration Center.

 

Honoring the distinguished athletes of the year 2022

HRH Al-Faisal honored several personalities and organizations that had contributed to Saudi sports with the awards of the SOPC for the year 2022, where he was awarded the Olympic Excellence Award to the former President of the Saudi Football Association, Ahmed Bin Eid Al-Harbi, for his service to Saudi sports for several years, through which he held several positions in the Football Association.

The exceptional award of the SOPC went to NEOM for the tremendous and prosperous cooperation that resulted in the Kingdom winning the hosting of the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

The Saudi Equestrian Federation received the award for the best sports federation for the year 2022; for the high rates achieved by the federation in the operational and technical evaluation of the strategy to support and develop sports federations.

The Women’s_ _Sports Award went to Lamia Al-Bahyan to recognize her role in developing women’s_ _sports and activating the women’s_ _football league. Saudi karate player Sanad Sufyani won the best player award in 2022 for winning the gold medal in the World Karate Championship, and rally driver Yazid Al-Rajhi, for achieving the gold medal in the World Cup (Baja) and third place in the Saudi Dakar Rally 2022.

Donia Abu Talib, a Saudi taekwondo team player, won the best female athlete award for registering her name as the first Saudi athlete to win a medal in the World Championship after achieving the bronze medal in the World Taekwondo Championship. While Coach Corbin Boukadaf won the Coach of the Year award for preparing and training player Donia Abu Talib during her participation in the World Taekwondo Championship.

Monica Stapp snatched the award for best coach for supervising the Saudi women’s_ _football team that won the international football championship.

At the Paralympic Games level, the award for the best Paralympic athlete went to the Saudi Paralympic team player Abdul Rahman Al-Qurashi, for his achievement in the West Asian Paralympic Games in Bahrain, which is represented in his achievement of three gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m races.

The award for the best Paralympic female athlete went to Lujain Al-Thaqafi, a player of the Saudi boccia team, for achieving the gold medal in the boccia competition at the West Asian Games in Bahrain.

The Saudi fencing team player, Hussein Al-Taweel, won the promising player award for achieving the gold medal in the Asian Junior Fencing Championship.

The award for the promising female player of the Saudi Muay Thai boxing team was Hattan Al-Saif, for achieving third place and the bronze medal in the World Muay Thai Championship.

 

The Saudi Paralympic weightlifting team Quartermaster Adnan Nour Saeed won the Most Promising Paralympic Player Award for achieving four gold medals in the Asian and Oceanian Weightlifting Championships.

At organizing major sporting events in the Kingdom, the Riyadh Marathon won the best sporting event for 2022, in which more than 10,000 participants participated, with two million riyals in prizes.

 

Hosting the World Weightlifting Championships

Alongside the assembly meeting, the President of the Saudi Weightlifting Federation, Muhammad Al-Harbi, and the President of the International Weightlifting Federation, Muhammad Al-Jaloud Al-Shammari, signed the contract to host the World Weightlifting Championship for adults, which will be held next September in the city of Riyadh.

I_t_’s_ _noteworthy to mention that last December, the International Weightlifting Federation announced the Kingdom had won to host the event, which is considered the most important qualifying event for the Olympic Games (Paris 2024) and will witness the participation of more than 1,500 male and female players from different countries of the world.