Qatar's Hamad Ali Al-Attiyah won the Under-25 Global Future Champions jump-riding tournament on July 17, taking home the 8,118 Euro ($8,934) grand prize.
The 21-year-old is the youngest of five equestrian riders poised to represent Qatar at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Attiyah did not seem like a force to be reckoned with during the first stages of the competition, ranking 9th with horse Appagino and 12th with Whitetaker in the 1.45 meter (Class 4: Two phases) event.
He then placed 19th with Appagino in the 1.45/1.5 meter (Class 11: Table A) challenge, committing eight faults. However, Attiyah and Appagino turned the tables in the 1.5 meter final, completing the course in 40.51 seconds with no faults.
His national teammate Khalid Al-Emadi took part in the Global Future Champions as well, placing 17th and 16th in Class 4 and Class 11, respectively, with four penalties in both. In the Grand Prix, committing twelve faults and finishing in 74.94 seconds landed him in 20th place out of 26 riders.
According to Qatar Foundation, Qatar’s rich equestrian heritage stems from the belief that the Arabian Peninsula was where man first saddled a horse. Considering the nation's fascination with the sport, its equestrian riders have become tough contenders in regional and international tournaments.
Their recent achievements earned Qatar a spot at its first-ever Olympic equestrian event this summer in Rio.
Qatar’s national show-jumping team qualified to the Rio 2016 Olympics by winning the second stage of the Furusiyya 2015 FEI Nations Cup Jumping series that took place in Abu Dhabi. The team includes 2006 Asian Games and 2011 Pan-Arab Games gold medalist Ali Al-Rumaihi, the highest ranking Qatari rider Sheikh Ali Ben Khalid Al-Thani, 2016 Doha Tour Grand Prix champion Faleh Al-Ajmi, the first ever Qatari rider to win a Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix Bassem Hassan Mohammed and the youngest rider to reach the FEI Equestrian World Cup final, Hamad Al-Attiyah.
The jump-riding event in Rio 2016 will occur from Aug. 14 to Aug. 19. Egypt’s Karim El-Zoghby and Morocco’s Abdelkebir Ouaddar will join the Qatari jump-riders in Rio by competing individually.