Kuwait’s 23-year-old Abbas Qali took the ideal route towards fulfilling any Arab athlete’s Olympic dream. He took up the sport as a kid, traveled to the west to study and train, overcame governmental neglect and put in everything he has to claim a qualification ticket.
Motivated by the idea of seeing the Kuwaiti flag on the Olympic podium, Qali successfully made the cut for the Rio 2016 Olympics, but the flag did not.
“In my swimming career and in every swimming competition I attended, I always looked up proudly to see the Kuwaiti flag at the center of the stage. The feeling is indescribable as it gives me the chills. It motivates me to achieve more,” he told Arab Times .
However, in October 2015, the IOC banned Kuwait’s Olympic Committee from partaking in any Olympic-related activity due to the government’s alleged interference in the Olympic movement through sports legislation. It has also been barred from the IOC and Olympic Solidarity’s financial assistance, which is thus withheld from the Kuwaiti Olympic athletes and coaches.
The International Olympic Committee sought to protect the rights of the Kuwaiti athletes who qualify for the games by allowing them to compete in Rio 2016 as independent Olympic athletes under the generic Olympic flag.
For Qali, as well as the Kuwaiti fencer and shooters headed for the Rio Olympics, this meant being left completely stranded on their way to the sporting world's most important event. Qali told Stepfeed that the Kuwaiti officials, national team and even his own training club did not show any support. He thus had to plan and finance his own journey to Rio 2016.
Enthused by his older brother, Qali started swimming at 8 years old. He has represented Kuwait in several regional and international competitions, including the 2015 FINA World Championships . He then moved to the United States to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Sports Science, which he received this May from the University of Alabama.
“I'm really blessed to be here because this is the perfect environment for an athlete. We have the best coaching staff on the pool deck. We have amazing strength coaches and a world class weight room. So overall, I couldn't ask for anything more,” he said.
After fourteen attempts in different meets since August 2015, Qali beat the 54.19 second Qualifying B Standard for the 100 meter butterfly event in Rio. He had been a fine line away from qualification throughout his trials, as he was always only milliseconds slower than the target. He finally swam 54.16 last month, setting a new personal best and booking his spot at the 2016 Olympics.
Shortly, he was contacted by the International Olympic Committee, assuring him that his childhood dream will materialize this August.
But yet again, his country disappointed during a two-week visit. “When I went to my club team to train, the pool was closed during a holiday and they did not want to open the pool for me to train for 2 hours a day.”
That went on for three days, impeding his training program. He also did not have a coach nor a team to train with. Kuwait was not the ideal place to be with the big games right around the corner. Qali is now back in Alabama to finalize his training before leaving for Rio.
Qali has improved his timing during the past year and hopes to achieve a new personal best at the Rio Olympics. He is determined to become the first-ever Kuwaiti to break the 54-second barrier, which would add the 100 meter butterfly national record to his current 50 meter butterfly.
He will become the 21st Kuwaiti swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games since the country sent its first Olympic swimmers to Munich in 1972. Nonetheless, its Olympic tally only includes two bronze medals won by shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani.
Unfortunately, he will not have the ultimate Olympic experience this year. Qali and his Olympic compatriots will march under the Olympic Flag at the opening ceremony at Rio 2016 and the Olympic Anthem will be played if one of them wins a gold medal. The Independent Olympic Athletes will be listed as their National Olympic Committee, with no reference to their nationality on their accreditation or results, according to Inside the Games .