Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammad bin Rashid, president of the United Arab Emirates' National Olympic Committee, has encouraged the nation’s 2016 Olympic athletes to strive hard to earn medals at Rio 2016 this summer.

His distant cousin, Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Hasher, won gold at the double-trap shooting event in the 2004 Athens Games, earning the UAE’s only Olympic medal since the nation's first participation in Los Angeles 1984.

The UAE has developed in the international sporting scene by supporting its athletes and investing in sports. The UAE NOC has spared no expense in backing its athletes, allotting a 37 million dirham ($10 million) budget for the 2016 Olympics. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid therefore believes Emirati players have risen above their previous passive role in international competitions and proven themselves as contenders to be feared.

“Perhaps on past occasions our athletes have not been taken seriously. But those days are well past us and we are a sporting country where our athletes are capable of delivering on the big stage,” he told the media after a meeting of the Executive Committee, according to Gulf News . “Since the past few years, we have taken into consideration the preparation process for all our athletes. We have invested in their preparations and we hope these preparations will help them deliver some top-class performances in Rio de Janeiro.”

Nine athletes have already secured their chance to fly the UAE flag during this summer’s Olympic Games. The UAE NOC is also expecting at least three quota spots, one in track and field and two in swimming.

UAE’s Ethiopian-born runners Betlhem Desalegn and Alia Saeed Mohammed qualified to Rio 2016 by fulfilling the 4:07 minute and 32:15 minute entry standards to the 1,500 meter and 10,000 meter events. Desalegn is a six-time Asian champion who has reached the finals of the IAAF World Indoor Championships twice and represented the UAE at the 2012 London Olympics. Her compatriot Mohammed, who is heading to the Olympics for the first time, won gold at the 2015 Asian Championships and 2014 Asian Games. She currently holds the Asian record for the women’s indoor 5,000 meter race.

Additionally, Moldovan-born judokas Victor Scvortov, Sergiu Toma and Ivan Remarenco, naturalized by the UAE, earned berths at the 2016 Olympics after their podium finishes in the qualifying events last year. While Toma and Remarenco have previously competed in the Olympics, this will be their first time representing the UAE. Scortov, on the other hand, will make his Olympic debut this August. He won gold at the 2013 and 2014 Judo Grand Prix, as well as the 2011 World Cup. Scortov won the UAE’s first Judo World Championships medal – a bronze – in 2014.

The native Emirati Olympians are also 2016 Olympic medal prospects. Three national shooters achieved quota places by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup Series and the Asian Championships.

Coached by the UAE’s only Olympic medalist, Abu Dhabi Police officer Al Kaabi qualified for the Olympics after winning gold at the double-trap event in the Asian Shooting Qualifiers, beating Kuwait’s 2000 Sydney and 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist, Fehaid Al Deehani. His achievement was rather surprising considering he has been practicing the sport for no longer than three years.

The National quotes Al Kaabi saying, “Qualifying for the Rio Olympics is not the end of our journey. This was just one of the stops. Now we start the next phase of our journey and our goal now is to shoot for the podium in Brazil.”

Saif Bin Futtais won first place at the Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition earlier this year. The double Asian champion, who won bronze at the 2014 ISSF World Cup, made the UAE Olympic squad by winning gold in the skeet event at the 2015 World Cup.

Saeed Al Maktoum is participating in the Olympic skeet shooting event for the fifth time since the 2000 Sydney Games, where he achieved his best Olympic result thus far by ranking ninth. The 2003 Asian champion won gold at the 2011 ISSF World Cup Finals and Pan Arab Games. He made the cut to Rio 2016 after winning third-place at the Asian Qualifiers.

Moreover, the UAE will return to the Olympic cycling events for the first time since 1996 via its best road cyclist, Yousif Mirza. Mirza qualified to the men’s Olympic road race by ranking second at the 2015 Asian Championships.

“For a small and modern country like the UAE, 12 athletes is a good number. Of these, nine have qualified on merit and that says a lot about the improvement we have achieved in sport. From now on, we would rather have our athletes qualifying and representing the country instead of utilizing the quota system,"Ahmed bin Mohammad bin Rashid said.